The Family Man
by Sheen Shan
Summary: The morning after Oliver is unceremoniously dumped by Dinah, he finds himself married to Chloe and he has kids.He has to deal with changing diapers, watching spongebob squarepants, rebellious teens and Lex's plot to harm his kids.*COMPLETE*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

**Chapter 1**

Oliver looked up from his paperwork as soon as he heard the three sharp knocks on his door.

"Come in" he called and waited for a few seconds till the person came it.

"Mr. Queen, this just came for you" his secretary said handing him an ivory colored card written with the handwriting of a person he knew all too well.

"Thank you Mary" he replied and took the card from her.

_Ollie,_

_Would you be able to meet me at Le Monet tonight at seven? I have something I need to talk to you about._

_Dinah_

He placed the ivory colored card in his drawer along with all the other cards that he'd received from Dinah. He quickly scrawled back a note saying that he'd be able to make it and gave it to Mary to deliver.

* * *

At seven Oliver walked into Le Monet and went over to their usual table. Dinah was already there dressed in a black dress with spaghetti straps. She looked up at him, giving him a small smile as he walked over to her and kissed her cheek.

"So" he said as he took a seat opposite her "what did you want to talk about?"

"Look" she said taking a deep breath "I don't think this is working anymore" she said and he looked slightly puzzled.

"What do you mean?"

"Us Ollie, we're not working anymore" she said gesturing from him to her.

"What? Dinah that's crazy I love you" he said leaning forward.

"I know, but maybe that's the problem. I mean we both love each other, we're just not in love with each other".

"Come on Dinah, you know that's not true" Oliver replied.

"Yes Ollie it is, and although I think we have amazing sex I feel that that's all there is. Our relationship is purely physical. You're not ready to commit to this relationship I don't even think marriage has even occurred to you at all has it?" she asked waiting for his answer but when none came, it confirmed her suspicions.

"Marriage?" he asked gulping.

"See what I mean? You're not ready for it and I am. I am ready to be a wife and a mother Oliver but you're not ready to give me that. I want kids Ollie" she said and Oliver looked uneasy.

"Kids?" he asked. "But kids would slow us down and dull our marriage" he replied.

"See? That's just it. I don't think we're going anywhere in our relationship. Like I said, I love you but I'm not in love with you. I'm sorry Oliver, I wish it didn't have to be this way but I've wasted three years of my life with you and I'm not going to waste any more". With that she placed her napkin on the table and with a last kiss on his cheek; she walked past him out the door and out of his life.

* * *

Three hours later, Oliver found himself sitting at a shady rundown bar drinking his body weight in alcohol. "Another beer please" Oliver said beckoning the bartender over. When the beer was placed in front of him, he wasted no time in knocking it back. Her words rang in his head over and over again like a broken record.

"_I love you Ollie, but I'm just not in love with you. I've wasted three years of my life with you and I'm not going to waste any more. I'm ready to be a wife and a mother and you're not ready to give me that"._

He shook his head again trying to clear away that haunting voice, taking a large gulp of his beer. He didn't know what he was doing here of all places, he stuck out like a sore thumb. His forest green shirt and black slacks looked like they belonged at Saks Fifth Avenue rather than at some dingy roadhouse bar. Yet for the first time that day he felt comfortable. The cool bottle of beer seemed to numb the dull throbbing ache in his heart for a while. He was so absorbed in his own troubles that he didn't notice the door to the bar open. Most of the men in the bar had stopped what they were doing to look at the woman who'd now stepped, albeit nervously, into the dimly lit bar. She too looked incredibly out of place with her crisp short black work skirt and her white blouse and bright red heels. She had been wearing the same clothes since morning and she was not in the best of moods. Ignoring the suggestive leers she was receiving from the uncouth men in the bar, she made her way to the lone figure sitting at the bar top.

"Oliver" she said when she reached him.

"Sidekick? What are you doing here?" he asked slurring slightly.

"I am here because the boys were worried about you and they wanted me to check on you" she said simply and subtly pushed his beer further away from him.

"Why didn't they check on me themselves" he asked turning around unsteadily to face her.

"They're smart, they decided to avoid pushing themselves into the line of fire" she replied. "Do you know how long it took for me to access your location from your car's tracking device? And you wouldn't believe my shock when I got to your car only to find a homeless hobo sitting in the front seat. I can't believe you gave away your brand new BMW to a hobo" she said flopping onto a bar stool beside him.

"Doesn't matter to me" he replied and took a large swig of his beer.

"Come on Ollie, that's enough" she said firmly taking the bottle of beer away from him and placed her hands on her hips.

"You can have that if you want" he said and beckoned the bartender over for another beer.

Chloe sighed as she watched the broken shell of a man before her. Something was wrong with Oliver; he never acted like this unless something was really bothering him.

"Ollie are you ok?" she asked placing a hand on his arm.

"Oh yes I'm absolutely fine, the woman that I'm in love with just told me that she doesn't want to be with me anymore because I'm not ready to commit. So to answer your question sidekick is yes I'm bloody fine".

"Look Ollie, I know you're hurting but this isn't the right way to go about it. Just come back with me ok? I promise everything will be fine" Chloe said taking his arm.

"I'm not coming with you or anyone. Just leave me here" he slurred, his head lolling to one side.

"Clark" she whispered using the communicator "I need some help here".

"I'm on my way" she heard him reply and with a soft swish he was by her side.

"Clark" she breathed letting out a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He's consumed his body weight in alcohol, that's what's wrong with him" Chloe replied.

"Let's get you out of here" Clark told Oliver and supported him up.

"I like big butts and I cannot lie" Oliver said and both Chloe and Clark stopped for a moment to stare at him. Then without a word his head dropped to the side and his eyes closed.

"Oh great" Chloe remarked sarcastically "just what we need".

* * *

Chloe took off Oliver's shoes and socks and helped him get settled into his bed. Looking at the man sleeping peacefully before her brought a small smile to his lips. Tonight was actually the first time she had seen him lose control. He must have really loved Dinah. She pulled his blankets up to his armpits and brushed the hair away from his face.

"So you think now's a good time to tell him about Lex's insanely large shipment of meteor rocks?" Bart asked from beside her gesturing to the sleeping man on the bed. Oliver stirred and turned over onto his side.

"Where did you come from? Wait. Never mind I don't want to know" Chloe replied.

"I'm just going to remove his shirt so why don't you go tell the others that he's ok" Chloe said and before she knew it Bart was gone.

After removing Oliver's shirt she folded it and placed it on his bedside table in front of a framed photo of him and Dinah. She was about to get up and leave when his arm shot out and held her hand.

"Sidekick?" he asked groggily.

"The one and only" she replied with a smile.

"She said she didn't want to be with me because I'm not ready to have kids. Who wants to have kids anyway, they only slow you down" mumbled and then closing his eyes he promptly rolled over and went to sleep with his thumb in his mouth.

If Chloe wasn't so filled with pity for the man before her, she would have laughed. This was a whole new different side to Oliver that she was seeing. "Goodnight Ollie" she whispered and turned off the lights.

* * *

Oliver woke up with a splitting headache. His head felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer and bashed him on the head repeatedly.

"Oww" he groaned nursing his head with his hand. He flopped back into bed and closed his eyes. "Just a little while longer" he said sleepily and closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt weight on his chest and opening one eye he saw a little blonde head staring at him curiously. He closed his eyes shut again immediately.

"Daddy" he heard it say "stop being silly, I know you're awake".

Well he almost had her fooled didn't her. Wait. What did she just call him? He sat up in his bed so suddenly that the little blonde on his chest fell backwards with a squeal.

"Daddy" she shrieked "you always do that".

"Daddy? Did you just call me daddy?" he asked her and she nodded. "I'm not your daddy" he replied looking horrified.

"Yes you are. Daddy are you ok? You don't look to good" she said eyeing Oliver's pale complexion.

"I-I-I" he stammered.

"Oooh wait till I tell mommy that you had one too many drinks with Uncle Bruce again" she replied cheekily and Oliver's eyes widened.

"Mommy?" he asked dumbly.

"Yes mommy" the little blonde replied looking irritated. They drifted off into an uneasy silence with the little girl staring curiously at him and him trying his best to ignore her.

Just when he thought things couldn't get any weirder a loud wailing pierced the air. "What the hell is that" he asked her and she put her hands on her hips, a gesture that seemed oddly familiar to him.

"Don't use the word hell daddy, it's not very nice" she scolded "and that would be your son Carl" she said hopping off the bed. Oliver stared after her. "Well" she asked putting her hands on her hips again. "Aren't you coming? He needs a diaper change and it's your turn today". Oliver turned a pale shade of green.

"A- a diaper change?" he asked looking revolted.

"Yes daddy a diaper change, now stop being so melodramatic" she chided and bounced out of the room with her two blonde pigtails swinging behind her. He followed her with unsteady legs until they reached a room painted in an emerald green wall papered with archers and Robin Hood.

"Nice décor" he mused as he glimpsed the room from the outside.

"Well you chose it" the little girl replied grumpily.

The first thing that hit Oliver as he entered the room was the stench. It smelt worse than any rotting corpse he had been unfortunate enough to come into contact with. He held his nose to prevent himself from wanting to throw up.

The little girl was standing by the crib looking at him with utmost annoyance and standing with her hands on her hips. He felt like he should know the little girl. There was something about her that reminded him of…he couldn't place it but he felt like he should know her.

"So are you coming or not?" she asked.

He willed himself to walk towards her. "So what am I supposed to do?" he asked and she looked at him like he'd gone mad. "Its just that _daddy_" he said feeling the name drop off his tongue "hit his head a little too hard last night and can't seem to remember a lot of things".

"Oh daddy" the little girl exclaimed and bounded over to him, hugging him around his legs. "Does it hurt?" she asked looking up at him with sparkling green eyes.

"Uh yes it hurts a little so try not to speak too loudly ok?" he asked and she nodded.

"I feel for you daddy" she replied simply, tears brimming in her emerald orbs. Then detaching herself from her fathers legs she walked over to the crib.

"Wait, how old are you anyway?" he asked.

"I am five daddy, but mommy says I'm smart for my age" she said holding up five fingers "you should know that, I celebrated my birthday last month". She looked at him disapprovingly.

"Right I bet you are. It's the head thing, it makes me forget" he replied pointing to his head and her little mouth formed a 'O'.

"Its ok daddy I understand" she replied and stood on a little box by the crib to coo to her brother. "Hello Carlie Warlie! Looks like you did a stinky one today" she said placing her hands over her mouth and giggling.

"Oh dear god" Oliver exclaimed as he got closer to Carl. "I have to change this?" he asked the little blonde. Speaking of the little blonde, he didn't even know her name. "By the way kid, what's your name?"

She looked at him with an expression of disbelief. "Daddy you must have really hit your head hard not to remember the name of your favorite child" she said and he fought the urge to laugh at her expression. "I'm Lois" she said pointing to herself proudly. He staggered backwards. feeling flabbergasted.

"Who named you that?" he asked looking at her.

"Well you and mommy did of course" she replied looking incredulous.

"What? I would never have given you such a stu"- Lois narrowed her eyes "I mean stimulating name like Lois" he said.

"Daddy you're crazy" was all she replied as she bounced along getting various diaper changing instruments.

"Ok look how about you help me change Carl while I get some aspirin for my poor head" Oliver asked looking at Lois.

"Ok" she replied "but what's in it for me?" she asked and this time is was Oliver who looked at her incredulously.

"I beg your pardon?" he asked.

"I mean the previous times I've been charging you two bucks but Uncle Bart told me I've been selling myself short. He said I should up the stakes a little".

"I'm going to kill Bart" Oliver mumbled "I'm making a deal with a five year old".

"If it makes you feel better daddy I'll be six in eleven months" she replied with a smile, displaying all her milk teeth.

"This is officially a nightmare. I must be dreaming" he reasoned.

"No your not" Lois replied and promptly pinched him hard.

"Ow, ok I'm not dreaming. I think we've established that" he exclaimed.

"So what's it going to be daddy are you going to give me something to help you change Carl or are you going to do it yourself?" she asked.

"Well how I about I just not do it at all" Oliver said.

"Uh-oh I don't think that's a very good idea daddy. Mommy said that if you don't change Carl, she's not going to give you any prideledges tonight".

"I think you mean privileges" Oliver replied.

"Yep that's the one".

"Ok fine, how about I give you five bucks and you help me change Carl?" he asked holding out a five dollar note he's scavenged from his pocket.

"You're kidding me aren't you daddy? Uncle Bart said I should settle for no less than ten bucks" she said authoritatively.

"What that's insane. I'm not giving you ten bucks to change a baby's diaper" he remarked.

"Well then" she said folding her hands "good luck with changing Carl" she said and was about to walk out the door.

"Ok wait alright I'll give you ten bucks. Ok? Happy?" he asked and dug around his pockets for another five dollars.

"YAY" she exclaimed and jumped up and down.

"Ok I only have a five on me but how about I write you an IOU? And then I'll give you the other half later".

"Sorry I don't do IOUs" she replied and turned up her nose on him.

"Ok, ok I'll get the rest now. You just wait here" he said and ran back to his room to get his wallet.

"Ok" he said coming back a while later "I've got the other five" he said handing her another five dollar bill.

"Well" she said looking thoughtful "since this is an awfully stinky one, I think I should get paid a little more". She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Ok fine" he said grumpily and handed her another five dollar bill. "Can't believe I'm being scammed by a five year old he muttered.

She smiled brightly and went over to change her brother. Oliver watched as she did everything carefully and precisely while humming to herself.

"So where is your mommy anyway?" he asked.

"She went for a jog when she woke up but I think by now she'd have gone in for a shower" Lois replied. "There all done" she announced as she taped the diaper together. Carl gurgled happily and Oliver leaned over to look at the baby in the crib. He was little about six months or so, Oliver couldn't tell. He'd never really come into contact with many babies in his life time. The kid looked somewhat like him with a darker shade of blonde on his head.

"No Carl here is going to go back to sleep and I'm going to watch Spongebob Squarepants" she said pulling him by the hand back to his room. "And you're going to watch it with me" she said and Oliver groaned which he quelled when she shot him a dirty look.

Oliver flopped onto the bed, stretching out his legs. He was bare bodied; only wearing his pants from last night. His forest green shirt was folded neatly and kept on his bedside table. Lois switched on the plasma screen mounted on the wall in front of the bed and then climbed onto his lap.

"_OOOOH who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS. Absorbent and yellow and porous is he__. Spongebob Squarepants. If nautical nonsense be something you wish SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS. Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish. SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS"._

Oliver watched in horror as a yellow sponge like creature appeared on screen along with an obese pink star like creature. They would do something incredibly stupid and then laugh maniacally at their lack of brains. Oliver had heard that Spongebob Squarepants was turning somewhat cultish. He'd heard of children everywhere succumbing to its hilarity, but he'd never believed it. Yet right in front of him, his own 'supposed' daughter was staring as if hypnotized at the screen.

"Isn't he the greatest daddy?" Lois asked pointing to Spongebob. "I like Spongebob but mommy prefers Patrick. She thinks he's sillier" she said putting her hands over her mouth and giggling girlishly.

Oh dear god. His future wife watched this hideous abomination as well? Which crackpot did he marry? And why in her right mind would she watch this ridiculous children's TV show. He gently pushed Lois off his lap and went to the dressing table that was at the corner of the room. He was hoping to get some clues to as who he might have married. As he passed his en suite bathroom he heard humming coming from within and he willed himself to wait a little longer.

He caught sight of a two framed pictures by the dressing table. The first one was of him and Clark posing together looking all chummy with each other. The second one was a framed picture of the whole justice league. Everyone was there, Bart, Victor, AC, Dinah, Chloe, Clark and himself. It looked like it was taken at Queen Towers. But he was still no closer to finding out who he married. He was about to go back to watching Spongebob with Lois when he caught sight of something that made his breath hitch in his throat. Looking in the mirror, he caught sight of his reflection. His eyes were a shade darker than he remembered and his hair was longer than he would have liked. Along with that he had a few wrinkles here and there but apart from that, he looked the same. He'd aged well. He grinned at his reflection and by doing so looked a god couple of years younger.

"Make mental note" he mumbled to himself "smile more".

"Daddy what are you looking at?" Lois called from her perch on the bed.

"Nothing, just realizing that I'm old" he replied.

"But daddy" she said looking puzzled "you were always old".

"Maybe to you" he mumbled back grouchily "but when I was younger, many would have killed for this face".

"Really?" she asked looking surprised "I wouldn't".

"Now is your mom going to be in there the whole day? Or is she planning on coming out sometime soon?" he asked and Lois shrugged her shoulders.

"Hold your horses Ollie, I'm out already" a voice replied and Oliver turned in the direction of the bathroom and his jaw dropped.

"Sidekick?" he asked gulping.

"Yes my darling?" she asked her voice husky.

Oliver was temporarily paralyzed. There she was; sidekick, watchtower, Chloe Sullivan. There she was standing right in front of him, wearing nothing but a towel.

**A/N: Just to let you know I have nothing against spongebob in fact I love him. I just didn't think Oliver would. Hope you liked it…and please dear readers do review!! The more reviews I get the faster I update.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Nothing belongs to me.**

**Author's note: The words in italics are Ollie's thoughts!! And please please vote on the new poll on my profile! I would greatly appreciate it!! It is in regards to the next chapter of the family man!!**

**Chapter 2**

Oliver was currently pacing up and down in his massive marble tiled bathroom. He had barricaded himself in and was trying to come to terms with what was happening. For the first time in his entire life Oliver Jonas Queen was panicking. This was beyond anything he could fix.

_Ok breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's it Ollie, keep calm, remember what the yoga master taught you. You have to deal with your problems calmly and rationally. Now let's deal with this like a sane person and list the problems._

_**1. You are stuck here.**_

_**2. You are stuck here and you are married to Chloe Sullivan who is one of your closest friends.**_

_**3. You are stuck here and you are married to Chloe Sullivan who is one of your closest friends and you have two kids!**_

_**4. You are stuck here and you are married to Chloe Sullivan who is one of your closest friends and you have two kids and they are incredibly irritating. (Plus you have to change diapers)**_

_**5. And your last and biggest problem is that YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET OUT OF HERE!!**_

_Ok breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. No use getting worked up over what is already done. Remember the saying, no use crying over spilled milk? Well no use crying over the milk when you'll probably be mixing milk for that squalling baby so you should be prepared. He let out a loud groan and banged his head against the door._

"Ollie?" came Chloe's voice from the other side of the door "Is everything ok?" she asked followed by three knocks on the door.

"I'm ok" he called back "I'm alright". When the truth was, he wasn't. In fact he was far from alright. "I'm just having a shower" he called and hurried over and turned on the taps.

"Ok" Chloe called back "I'm just going to take Lois down for some breakfast see you downstairs in a bit".

"Yeah ok" he replied.

Looking at the steam building up on the shower doors he reasoned that perhaps a nice hot shower would help soothe his nerves. Stepping into the shower he sighed as the hot water cascaded down his back. Relief coursed through him as he felt his muscles loosen. Sweet, sweet relief. Now he had to find a solution to his problems: He was going to have to pretend that he was the Oliver Queen that they thought he was until whoever brought him here decided to send him back. It would just make things easier. After all if he did tell everyone the truth he'd probably have a lot of explaining to do and he definitely didn't want that. To do that he was going to need the help of a certain five year old: Lois. He could use the baby because everyone loved babies, but that would just be too messy plus it would involve too many diaper changes. He had planned this exactly like he would a mission. Firstly, infiltrate the enemy by planting a spy among them. Secondly, he will learn all their secrets and blend in amongst them and finally he would gain their trust. It was a fool proof plan!

Although looking back he wasn't exactly sure why he even needed a plan. It wasn't as if this was one of Lex's insane plots to rule the world, or destroy it. Or both. But still, at least it gave him something to do while he was here.

After a calming half an hour shower, Oliver emerged from the bathroom toweling his hair. He was about to search the wardrobes for some clothes to wear when he spotted a suit already laid out for him. There was a pair of black pants, a light blue shirt with a black tie already there. He shrugged his shoulders and put on his pants.

Minutes later when he was doing up his tie, his little spy Lois came to call him. "Daddy? Are you dressed yet? Because mommy is wondering what's taking you so long"

"I'm done" Oliver called back as Lois pushed the door open cautiously.

"Would you like to walk down with me?" Oliver asked.

"Ok" she replied brightly and grabbed his hand, clasping his large hand with her tiny one.

"Now Lois, I need you to do _daddy _a favor" he said and knelt down so they were almost seeing eye to eye.

"Oh-Kay" she said hesitantly. "What is it?"

"I need you to be my"- he looked around to check that no one was within ear shot. Then he dropped his voice to a whisper "_spy_".

Her eyes immediately grew as wide as saucers. "Ooh are we playing the Justice League spy game?" she asked jumping up and down.

"The what?" he asked looking confused.

"You know the Justice League spy game. The game you invented for Orrie and Harley? You know the one where we have to be spies and be very vizipant" she said secretively.

"I think you mean vigilant" he replied back.

"Yep that's the one" she said. "We have to be spies and we're on a special mission and at the end of the day we report back to you because you're the team leader" she said.

Oliver looked confused for a second then quickly wiped the expression from his face "oh! Right, yes that's absolutely right. Yes, we're playing the Justice League spy game. You're smart you know that?" he asked her.

"Yeah I know" she replied proudly "people tell me that all the time".

"Yes well now you're going to go on an important mission. You will infiltrate enemy and you will learn their secrets while using your cute face and blond pigtails to gain their trust".

"Oh I like where this is going daddy, Orrie and Harley won't play this with me anymore because their too big but sometimes Harley does when I beg her".

"Err ok?" Ollie replied dismissing what she said "now back to your mission" he said and immediately Lois was all ears. "I need you to get me all the dirt on everyone in the family and that includes the staff. You need to help _daddy _because remember I told you I hit my head? Well I still can't remember a lot of stuff so I need your help".

"Does that include Miss Lena?" Lois asked looking a little worried.

"Miss Lena?" Oliver asked looking bewildered.

"Yeah, I know I need to get the dirt on the staff but does it have to include Miss Lena the cook?" she asked and Oliver laughed.

"Yes it does include Miss Lena, I need to know everything about everyone" Oliver said still chuckling.

Lois looked mildly upset "but Miss Lena is a meany pants, she's always chasing me out of the kitchen with her big spoon".

"Well maybe you can give Miss Lena a little bit of payback if you dig up some dirt on her?" Oliver offered and Lois brightened.

"You are a genius daddy" she exclaimed and bounced around happily.

"So can you do what I asked? Will you be my little spy?"

"Oh yes daddy I will" she replied and clapped her hands together bouncing up and down.

"Good now come on my little spy lets go and have breakfast" he said and she giggled happily. Taking her small hand in his, Oliver led her downstairs to the dining table where he was met with Chloe who was feeding Carl using a milk bottle.

"Lois honey, would you be a dear and get my cell phone for me?" Chloe asked and Lois nodded, bounding along happily to do as her mother asked.

"So what's your plan for today?" Chloe asked Oliver and he froze mid- taking a piece of toast.

He decided to play it cool. What exactly _did_ he have to do? Was he still CEO of Queen industries? "I'm not sure. I have too many things that I'm not really sure which one to choose". _Maybe she'll tell me what I have to do_ he thought to himself.

"Hmmm why don't you check your iphone? You might have something really important that you need to attend to first" she suggested and Oliver nearly smacked his head in realization. _Of course! I usually listed what he had to do in my iphone so why should the future be any different?_

He searched his pockets and found his iphone. Scrolling down he realized that he had to go to work today to settle a partnership with Wayne Industries. _Thank god for modern technology_ he thought to himself. Followed by an intense martial arts session with Bruce and then it was 'Family time'. Well that was what was written into his iphone. Everything was jotted down for him, exactly what time and where he needed to be. Maybe things wouldn't be too hard after all. A loud wailing broke through his thoughts and he glared at the source of the noise.

"There, there. It's ok" Chloe soothed bouncing Carl on her hip but it was no use. No matter how hard she tried Carl didn't seem to stop his crying. She sighed and then Lois piped up from the other side of the table.

"Mommy why don't you sing the teddy bear picnic song? You know he always stops crying when you sing that song".

"Oh yes, that would work thanks Lois!" Chloe replied.

"If you go out in the woods today, you're in for a big surprise. If you go out in the woods today, you'd better go in disguise. For every bear that ever there was would gather there for certain because today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic". Oliver watched in awe as she pranced around doing various actions to the song. It was hilarious to watch yet at the same time oddly soothing and the strange thing was that even the baby had ceased his horrific wailing and was gurgling happily at his mother's antics.

"Yay" Lois clapped happily. "Mommy that was great!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks baby" Chloe said letting out a puff of breath as she flopped back into her chair. She grinned at Oliver and took a piece of toast from the plate before her.

"That was great"- _That was great Chloe_, was what he was about to say but there was bound to be some kind of sick lovey dovey name that he referred to Chloe as wasn't there? Especially now that they were married with _two_ kids. "That was really great _honey_" he said deciding to use the word honey. She reminded him of honey anyway, with her sweet loving nature.

It was probably the right thing to say because she positively beamed at him and Lois let out a great big "Awww daddy". Oliver had never really blushed before, not in his entire life. Not even back when he was at Excelsior and Bruce had tackled him so hard during an inter house rugby game and exposed the entire stadium to his little Oliver. And yet now, he was blushing like an idiot. He hastily picked up the news paper and tried to hide his face. This was incredibly embarrassing even by his standards. _Oh. Dear. God. If you love me than please smite me where I sit_ he thought to himself. _Maybe if I spread the paper out a little more, I can hide my face from Chloe and the brat kids_.

"Daddy are you blushing?" Lois asked as she crawled under the table and pushed the news paper down to expose half of his face.

"No I'm not" he replied back hotly.

"Don't lie to me daddy!" she chided "I'm an extremely smart five year old and I know things, just like I know that you're blushing" she replied smugly while Chloe suppressed a giggle.

"I'm NOT blushing" he said.

"Yes you are" she shot back "I know you are because you're face is as red as Uncle Bart's running suit". This time Chloe didn't bother to suppress her laughter. Oliver shot her a dirty look and she shrugged her shoulders innocently.

"The kid's got a point" she replied and Oliver let out a frustrated sigh.

"I've got to go to work" he said and stood up suddenly.

"Oh ok but don't forget that tonight is pizza night so the boys will be over and don't forget to pick up the pizzas from Ricky's Pizzeria. 6 Hawaiian, 4 pepperoni, 5 meat lovers, 7 Supremes and 4 veggie lovers" she said and Oliver nearly collapsed onto the chair that he was sitting on before.

"What? Why so many?" he asked looking aghast.

"Well you know how the boys are. Plus it's not like they're coming alone" Chloe replied. "You always seem to forget how much they eat" she said chuckling. "Now shouldn't you be off to work?" she asked walking over with Carl in her arms to give her husband a kiss on the cheek. "Say bye to daddy" she cooed to Carl using a slender hand to wave one of her son's chubby ones.

"Uh- bye kid" Oliver said waving awkwardly to Carl and before he could take another step forward Lois had zoomed out of her chair and attached herself to his legs.

"Daddy don't leave me" she half wailed and Oliver looked down at her, not quite sure what to do next.

"Come on Lois, you need to let go of me I need to go to work" he said trying to pry her hands off his legs. It was getting rather annoying plus she was getting crumbs all over his Armani suit.

"No you can't leave me! I don't want to be alone with Miss Lena" she said looking at him with sad green eyes.

"Look kid"- he started but when he saw Chloe looking at him he corrected himself "I mean Lois darling, _daddy _needs to go to work but I promise if you let go of me and be a good girl for Miss Lena I'll get you something special tonight".

"Ooh! What is it daddy?" she asked immediately letting go of his legs.

"It's a surprise" he said and her eyes grew large.

"Ok I'll be a good girl I promise" she said "cross my heart, hope to die, stick a finger in your pie". She crossed her heart with a tiny index finger and Oliver couldn't help but chuckle.

"I think you mean stick a finger in my eye, kiddo" he said.

"Yep that's the one" she said.

"And don't forget the mission" Oliver whispered and her expression suddenly grew serious.

"Oh I won't" she replied and flounced back to the table with her mother smiling after her. _She definitely takes after Chloe _Oliver mused to himself.

As he walked towards his dark metallic green land rover he mulled over what had happened back at the house. _Kids _he thought to himself._ Sometimes you don't know what to do with them. You can't decide if you want to laugh your butt off at them or if you want to strangle them. Or do both at the same time._

* * *

Oliver staggered under the mountainous pile of pizzas. For the hundredth time that day he wondered why on earth he'd have to get that many pizzas. He'd finished his board meeting with Bruce over an hour ago, cancelled his work out session and after coming to terms with the fact that Bruce had apparently aged better than he had, he'd stopped over at Ricky's to pick up the pizzas. He was actually flat out tired and all he wanted to do at the moment was to go home and crash onto his bed, regardless of the fact that it was only four thirty in the afternoon.

After opening the door with great difficulty he placed the pizzas down on the dining table and decided that before he took a nap, some target practice would help to relieve his stress. He made his way slowly up the stairs to the master bed room. In a way it was a relief that not everything in this 'world' or 'life' of his was new. He was thankful that at least he was familiar with the house that they were living in. It was the Queen Summer mansion and when his parents were alive, Oliver spent every summer here with them. He grew up in the large never ending gardens, always playing Robin Hood with Bruce among the oak and maple trees and splashing around in the stone water fountain even though the swimming pool was only ten paces away. The mansion had always felt like home to him, it was a place where he remembered his parents and the great memories that he shared with them. He was glad to know that it played a big part in his future as well.

"I'm home" he called out and grinned to himself. He'd always wanted to say that. There was a pattering of feet somewhere ahead of him.

"Daddy!" Lois cried.

He heard the loud squeal before he saw her. She came down the stars in a blond blur and nearly knocked him backwards. She hugged him tightly around the waist and looked up at him.

"I missed you daddy" she said and buried her head in his toned stomach.

"Err…yes I missed you too" he replied back patting her on the head awkwardly although the truth was, he hadn't missed her. In fact he had forgotten for the entire afternoon that she'd even existed. _I'm lying to a five year old. I am definitely going to hell for this_ he thought to himself.

"Daddy" Lois whispered looking at him. "I did what you asked" she replied and for a second Oliver looked confused.

"Eh?" he asked then remembering the 'important' task he'd given the five year old, he became attentive. "So, what do you have for me?" he asked her.

"Wait, first you have to give me my surprise" she said. _Oh crap_. He had forgotten all about her surprise.

"Err… here you go" he said digging his pockets and coming up with a strawberry flavored lollypop.

"Ooh a lollypop!" she exclaimed with childish delight and Oliver immediately felt guilty. He promised himself that next time he was going to give her a surprise, and he'd make it a big one.

"So now are you going to tell me what you've got?" he asked and she nodded.

She took his hand and led him to her bedroom. It was painted a pale pink with faeries and princesses. All in all it looked like a typically girly room save for the miniature punching bag that hung in the corner.

"Sit down daddy, you're not going to like what I have to say" she said and he looked at her strangely.

"Ok" he replied slowly.

"So let me start off with telling you what I did today" she said and passed him a pillow. Oliver took a moment to register that it was a bright shade of pink and it had a border of frills and lace and it had a huge picture of a princess printed in the middle.

"Ok" he repeated.

"Now this morning after eating my coco pops, I decided to go into the theatre room to watch Sesame Street. Then I remembered that you gave me something to do so I decided to do that first" she said pacing up and down the room, gesturing expressively with her hands. Oliver nodded his head motioning for her to carry on with her story.

"So then I decided to sneak into mommy's office where I knew for sure that she kept a file of stuff on all the staff working in the mansion" she said and Oliver nodded his head.

"Ok, so?" he asked.

She looked at him pointedly "so I stole it! Duh!"

Oliver chuckled but then stopped when he noticed her staring at him seriously. "You're being serious? You actually stole it?" he asked incredulously and his eyes widened as she nodded.

"Here it is" she said and handed him a thick cream colored folder she'd taken from her desk. It was bulging with papers and photographs and it had the word **STAFF** written on it in bold, black letters.

"Oh hell, this is actually it?" he asked looking dumbstruck.

"Yes" she replied back stiffly "and I told you already, don't use the word hell. It's not a very nice word".

"Sorry, sorry, I forgot" he said sheepishly flipping through the file. She made a barely audible noise of disapproval.

"This is great" he exclaimed to himself.

"I know" she replied proudly. "And you'll be glad to know that that's not all the information I got".

"You mean you got more?" he asked.

"Yeah" she replied "and it's all about Orrie and Harley".

"Ok what about them?" he asked wondering why Lois would take special interest in digging up dirt on two members of the staff.

"Well I thought you might be interested to know that Orion broke up with his girlfriend Michelle who Harley calls the whore of Barbielon, and now he's going out with another girl called Stacy".

"I think you mean a whore of Babylon" Oliver corrected and almost smacked himself on the head. A five year old didn't need to know such things.

"Yep that's the one. What does that mean?" she asked and Oliver nearly fell off the bed.

"I-I-uh I-it- why don't you ask your mother to explain it. I'm sure she'd explain it better than me" he finally replied and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Harley also told Orrie that he is making a big mistake again because Stacy is the village bicycle" she said innocently and this time Oliver really did fall off the bed.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"Yes daddy, that's exactly what I said because I thought that Star City was a city and not a village but Harley, told me that it didn't matter because Stacy is a bicycle and lets everyone take a ride on her".

"Uh?" Oliver offered feebly.

"So does it mean Stacy is like a horse too? Because horses let everyone ride them too" Lois put in brightly and for the first time in his life, Oliver was speechless to the point of embarrassment.

"Anyway it doesn't matter, can we get back to discussing the matter at hand here?" he asked "and by the way I am going to have to fire this Orrie and Harley. How can they use such appalling language and references in front of you? They'll be fired first thing tomorrow".

Lois looked horrified "you can't _fire _Orrie and Harley".

"And why ever not?" Oliver asked sternly.

"Because daddy, you can't fire your own children" she replied looking at him like he was stupid. His mouth dropped open.

"My what?" he asked his voice hoarse.

"Your children" Lois replied.

"Oh. Dear. God" Oliver exclaimed and the first thing he thought was _damn my sperm_. _Now there are more brats to put up with._

"And you love them too much to fire them anyway so stop being silly daddy" Lois berated.

"Oh my god, I have more kids?" he asked. Mostly to himself. "Harley and Orrie?" he questioned Lois trying to come to terms with this new piece of information.

"Yes daddy" she said irritably. "Did you forget that you had them?" she asked and when he didn't answer she took it as a yes. "I'll help you daddy" she said and put a small palm on Oliver's shoulder. "Don't be sad daddy, its ok. I'm here to help now".

"Thanks" Oliver replied sounding like a parched desert traveler.

"See Orrie and Harley are actually Orion and Harlan but only I call them Orrie and Harley. They're twins but Orrie is older by ten minutes, mommy said he was always the impatient one. They're both seventeen but they'll be eighteen in a month's time" she said and Oliver looked like someone had punched him.

"Eighteen?" he asked gulping. It was bad enough that he had a wailing pooping baby and a genius five year old that never stopped talking but now he had two hormones riddled rebellious teens as well?

"Yeah they're eighteen but they don't act like it" Lois replied darkly. "Orrie is the naughty one and Harley is the one that always does the right thing but they're both very close. Come on I'll show you their room" she said pulling Oliver along with her.

Oliver followed Lois until they came to two doors that were a little distance apart, plastered with posters and other teen gimmicks. They went through the door, only to enter into a very large and very strange looking room. It was unlike any room that Oliver had ever laid his eyes on. It was a humongous room, divided into two. It had an en suite bathroom on each side of the room and each half had a door. Basically, Oliver guessed that the one giant room had once been two rooms that were side by side, it was still the same except the wall that divided the two rooms had been removed.

"Why are they sharing a room?" he asked Lois looking puzzled.

"Well like I said daddy, Harley and Orrie are really close. Sure they fight a lot but they're practically joined at the hip. Well you and Mommy tried giving them separate rooms when they were fifteen but it didn't work. According to the twins, it was weird not having to share the room with each other. That's how close they are".

"What? That's absurd" Oliver announced and Lois glared at him.

"No it's not. They'd do anything for each other. Orrie once said that he'd even die for Harley and she'd do the same for him. The way I see it daddy, the two of them are one soul and mind split into two bodies and you realized it too. That's why you asked Uncle Clark to run straight into the wall. It saved you the trouble of getting the builders in to get rid of the wall, according to Uncle Victor".

"This is crazy. My kids are all nuts"- Oliver was cut off with a loud revving of a race bike. "What on earth is that?" he asked and Lois brightened.

"That, would be the twins" she replied.

**Author's note:** Well thanks for reading this chapter and I hope you review. The more reviews I get the faster I update!! Sorry this chapter seemed rush. I was kind of busy so I think I rushed through. If anyone has any suggestions on how to improve this chapter please let me know!! I can use any help I can get. And for those who leave anonymous reviews, if you'd like me to reply to them please leave your e-mail address. I reply personally to every single one of my reviewers! Thanks and take care everyone!

Huggies!!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3

The revving of the race bike got louder and louder and then as quickly as it came, it stopped. _Race bikes?_ Oliver questioned himself. _What kind of kids do you hav_e? His mind filled with horrific images of his kids being part of a biker group like Hell's Angels and he shuddered inwardly. He slowly made his way downstairs leaving Lois to go back to her room to get her stuffed toy.

Just as he reached the foot of the stairs, the mahogany double doors to the mansion opened and one of the twins, Harlan, waked in. He froze on the spot, hoping to god that she'd mistake him for a statue and walk right past him but no such luck. Noticing him standing at the foot of the stairs, she beamed at him. _Be calm Ollie, just breathe in and breathe out. You can do it, be the eye of the storm, the kiss of the dragon, the pearl of the-_

"Hello daddy" she greeted brightly and threw her arms around him.

"H-hello H-Harlan" he said patting her awkwardly on her back. She kissed him on his cheek then pulled away.

"How was work daddy?" she asked and immediately he felt himself loosen up a little._ There we go, see, she doesn't seem so bad right?_

"Fine" he replied. He looked at her properly and noticed that the white t-shirt and blue jeans that she was wearing were covered in what looked like smudges of grease. Her black leather jacket was the only thing that looked relatively grease free. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and there was a large grease smudge on her right cheek. _Why on earth is she covered in grease?_

"Orrie and I were working on the bikes dad" she said looking sheepish. _Did I just say that aloud?_ He asked himself.

"Yes dad you did" she replied laughing. _Damn I must have said that out aloud again. _He stared at her, observing her curiously. He'd never been in contact with many teens before and he'd always thought they were meant to be rebellious and rude. Yet Harlan seemed like a decent kid and didn't Lois say she always did the right thing?

"Dad are you ok?" Harlan asked waving a hand in front of his face.

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine" he replied and she nodded, shrugging off her leather jacket.

"Hey, what's that smell?" she asked sniffing the air. "Mmmm smells like pizza" she said then her eyes brightened "oh yeah! Tonight's pizza night, which means that everyone will be here? Is it true that Uncle Bruce is coming tonight too? Because mom said that he might be coming".

"Yes, he said he might be able to make it" Oliver replied and her eyes lit up. They were a light hazel with flecks of gold in them and somehow they looked oddly familiar. With a start he realize why they looked familiar, he had seen those eyes staring back at him every time he looked in the mirror.

"Good, good, it will be great to see him. I can't wait to show him the bikes" she said excitedly. She wiped her grease covered palms on her low waist baggy jeans, smiling slightly. "Oh and today's the day I will finally beat Uncle Bart at that stupid street fighter Xbox game that he loves so much" she announced with confidence.

Oliver raised an eyebrow "oh really?" he asked.

"Yes, I've been practicing every day and now and I think I've finally got the hang of it" she replied. "I'm going to show him who's boss" she added with determination. Oliver chuckled good naturedly.

"You do that" he replied.

Harlan was about to say something when the double doors to the mansion opened with a bang and rays of bright orange sunlight streamed in. Oliver's jaw dropped slightly as a dark silhouette stood in the doorway. Using a hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the setting sun, he watched as the figure stalked its way towards them with a faint click, click of boots on the marble floor.

As the figure got closer, Oliver noticed it was a teenage boy, no older than eighteen. This was his son, Orion. Oliver quickly closed his mouth. Orion definitely didn't look like any teenage boy that Oliver had met in his entire life. If his son had a theme song, Oliver was sure it would have been 'TNT' by ACDC. Orion was dressed in black jeans, a white muscle t-shirt and a long, black leather trench coat. A silver arrow gleamed at his throat held together by a braided leather strap and he had an earring in his left ear and a lip ring. His dark hair was spiked all over his head and- _is he wearing eyeliner?_

Orion looked at Harlan "I've cleaned up the bikes" he said. "You did an ace job on them Harley".

"Thanks" she replied "yours was easy to upgrade, all I had to do was rig the super sonic booster to the engine but mine needed a system reboot and not to mention" she lowered her voice so Oliver almost didn't catch it. "The extra modifications".

"And you did all that in half an hour" he said grinning "sheer genius".

"Why thank you big brother" she replied with a mock bow and Orion smiled at her. However when he looked at Oliver, his smile faded and his eyes narrowed dangerously. Oliver blinked looking incredibly confused. _Did I just miss something here? Why is he looking at me like he wants to kill me?_

"Orrie" Harlan said warningly.

"What?" he retorted angrily. "I've not said anything yet" he replied turning from Harlan to glare angrily in Oliver's direction. Oliver was taken aback. This was the first time that he'd met Orion and apparently he'd done something to anger him.

Orion made a strangled, frustrated sort of noise in the back of his throat and went up the stairs, his black leather trench coat billowing behind him. Oliver looked on, watching his son walk up the stairs with a mixture of confusion and hurt. _What did I do to anger him so much?_ He asked himself.

"Don't worry dad, he'll come around" Harlan said sympathetically and squeezed his shoulder in assurance. "I'd better go talk to him" she said and followed her brother up the stairs.

Oliver raked a hand through his hair. The sun had set and the lights in the mansion had just come on. He looked up as a soft humming was heard and he saw Lois walking down the stairs happily. In her hands she clutched a giant stuffed black thing.

"Hello daddy" she said happily jumping off the bottom step to stand beside him.

"What is that?" he asked unable to mask his disgust at the ugly black soft toy she was clutching.

"This" she said proudly "is Batty the Bat. Uncle Bruce gave it to me the last time he came visiting".

"Ah I see. Figures" Oliver replied wrinkling his nose at the black lump of fluff in Lois's arms. "Anyway Lois, I wanted to ask you a question".

"Ok daddy fire away" she replied hugging Batty closer to her chest.

"Why is Orion so mad at me?" he asked and then her eyes grew wide.

Her mouth formed a tiny 'O' and she looked at her shoes. "It's a long story daddy" she said.

"Shorten it for me" he said and she looked thoughtful.

"Ok, I'll try" she replied and he nodded his head.

"Well actually Orrie and Harley were both angry with you but now it's just Orrie. Although I think Harley is still angry with you but she hides it well".

"Wow thanks Lois, that's real comforting to know" Oliver replied as they walked to the living room.

"Well actually they were angry with you because they asked you if they could join the justice league when they turned eighteen and then you said no because it was too dangerous and then they got mad at you. Then they told you that they're old enough and can make their own decisions but you still said no. Then Harley decided she couldn't stay mad at you because she loves you too much but Orrie is still mad at you because he's stubborn like you and he always fights for what he believes in".

"So you mean this whole fight between me and Orion is because I won't let him join the league?" he asked and she nodded her little blond head. "But that's stupid. He should know that it's way too dangerous for him".

"I don't know" Lois replied shrugging her shoulders "I'm only five" she replied holding out five fingers to show Oliver.

"What do you think I should do?" he asked her.

"Hmmm, maybe you should do what you think is right" she said "you don't want to put Orrie in danger but at the same time you don't want your son to be mad at you but if it makes you feel better daddy I think he's slowly coming around".

Oliver sighed. He had absolutely no idea what to do and it was annoying him to no end. Usually he had everything down, he was the fearless leader of the Justice League but now? He didn't know what he was anymore. Just then the double doors to the mansion opened yet again and Chloe walked in looking tired.

"Mummy" Lois yelled and ran towards her mother as fast as her little legs could carry her.

"Hi baby" Chloe greeted picking up her daughter. "Were you a good girl today?" she asked and Lois nodded.

"I'm always a good girl mummy" she replied innocently and Chloe chuckled.

"Oh really" she asked and Lois nodded.

"And daddy's been good today too!" the five year old replied earnestly "He even got me a lollypop" she said as she gripped onto her mother.

"Oh is that right now?" Chloe asked smiling at Oliver with a twinkle in her eye.

"Yes" Lois replied "so I think daddy deserves some prideledges".

"I think you mean privileges" Oliver corrected and Lois nodded.

"Yeah that's the one" she replied and Chloe laughed giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Ok I'll see what I can do" she replied and winked at Oliver. "Maybe later tonight, how does that sound Ollie? Is your schedule free?" she asked.

He pretended to look thoughtful "I'll check but it should be ok" he replied.

"Good" she replied and walked over to him, kissing him briefly on the lips. He cursed as he felt a part of him getting excited that shouldn't be getting excited. Just at the very moment when Oliver was cursing his increasing levels of testosterone, the doorbell rang. Chloe opened the double doors and a gust of wind rushed past and a grinning Bart stood beside Oliver dressed in a red sweat shirt and jeans closely followed behind by Victor and AC who were out of breath.

"Hey boss" Bart greeted Oliver and dashed over to kiss Chloe's hand.

"Uncle Bart!" Lois exclaimed before jumping on him.

"Greetings senorita" he replied in a poor imitation of a Spanish accent and Lois giggled.

"You're silly Uncle Bart" she replied and he made a face at her.

"Now, now, children lets behave ourselves shall we?" Chloe chided and Lois giggled again.

"Where's everyone else" Bart exclaimed impatiently.

"Keep your pants on dude we're here" AC announced walking into the room.

"I think the expression is keep your hat on" Victor replied from behind AC walking into the room

"Well I think in Bart's case keeping his pants on would seem more appropriate" AC retorted.

"I went to Timbuktu and back and still made it hear before you guys, like literally." Bart said and Victor snorted with laughter "I thought I'd lost you guys for a moment".

"As if" came the biting reply from AC.

"I thought you guys were going to bring your families?" Chloe replied

"Sorry Chloe I wanted to bring Asher but today he's with his mum" AC replied. Chloe nodded in understanding. Asher was AC's six year old only son who was often shuttled back and forth between AC and his ex wife Lorraine.

"I wanted to bring Katherine but she decided to stay home with newborn Naira and Maya went to pick up a part I need for my computer, so she'll be late".

"Good, good that's great" Chloe replied. "So she's finally come back from boarding school then?"

"Yeah I've enrolled her in Harlan and Orion's school" Victor replied. "Ollie suggested it to me last week when I told him about Maya coming back to Star city for her final year".

"That'll be great. Harlan hasn't seen her in 4 years, she'll be thrilled and it'll be great for her to finally have at least one friend" Chloe replied.

"And I still haven't found anyone to be _numero uno_ in my life" Bart replied with a dramatic sigh.

"Oh Bart" Chloe replied with a laugh and patted him on the back. "You'll find someone I'm sure" she consoled.

Oliver stood speechlessly taking in everything like a sponge. _So Victor is happily married with kids, AC has a son and is divorced and Bart is hopelessly single _he thought with a smirk. _Some things never change._

"Lois would you be a good girl and take my bag up to the room?" Chloe asked her five year old and the little girl beamed.

"Sure mummy" she replied with a nod of her blond head.

"How are the twins doing?" AC asked when Lois had left the room.

"Ok I guess" Chloe replied. "Orion is dating some girl called Stacy whom Harlan hates".

"Is she the whore of Babylon or the village bicycle?" Bart asked looking confused.

"Wait, I thought she was the hussy from hell right? Or is she the Baywatch bimbo?" Victor asked with Bart's confused expression mirrored on his face.

"No dude I thought she was the bitch with boobs on a stick?" AC added. "Unless I'm wrong and she is the gold digging genital wart?"

"Wait, then who was the Stupid slut?" Bart asked scratching his head.

"You've got it all wrong" Chloe said sighing. "The first girl he dated was Michaela. She was the bitch with boobs on a stick. The second girl he dated, what's her name, was it Annie? Anna? Alana yes that's right Alana, she was the hussy from hell. Then the third girl Emily was the gold digging genital wart although she doesn't have genital warts.

Followed by Rebecca who's the Baywatch bimbo? Then after Rebecca came Elyse who's the stupid slut followed by Michelle who is the whore of Babylon and then now he's going out with Stacy who's the village bicycle" Chloe finished and Victor blinked twice and stared at her.

"Wow, your son's dating antics are pretty impressive" he told them and Chloe rolled her eyes.

"That's just the list for this year. The only reason why I remember their names is because Harlan always comes up with names for them so I associate their real name with Harlan's made up names" Chloe replied shaking her head.

Oliver and Bart had broken away from the group and were chatting animatedly. Oliver had found to his delight that Bart hadn't changed one bit. Although that might not be such a good thing for Bart seeing as he was in his thirties and still hadn't showed signs of settling down.

"Speaking of Harlan" Victor said cautiously "how's she coping in school?"

"Apparently there hasn't been any change whatsoever" Chloe replied looking slightly downcast.

"That must suck" AC replied with a shake of his head.

"What must suck?" Oliver asked having just jumped into the conversation.

"We're just talking about how Harlan's been getting bullied in school" Chloe replied and Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah man" AC replied "I think it's not cool how they tease her for being a tomboy just because she doesn't dress like the girls in her school". He wrinkled his nose "stupid kids, they don't realize she's a hundred times smarter than them".

"Yes" Victor agreed "last week when Chloe was busy, she helped me with my upgrade and even created a firewall for my system along with a virus for anything electronic that tries to hack into my system".

Oliver tried his best not to look impressed but failed horribly. "You mean she- she did that?" he asked.

"Yeah" AC replied then looking at Oliver's expression he laughed "dude try not to look so surprised man. I mean you do have amazing kids. She came to the aquatic and marine life rally with me the other day; I mean I don't know any chick that would do that and you should get Bruce to tell you about her plans for the modification of the bat car. Ollie man you _really_ have amazing kids".

Oliver merely looked at AC not quite sure if he should agree or not. "Yes I guess I do" he replied and Chloe leaned into him, sliding an arm around his waist. Oliver found that he quite enjoyed the feel of her body pressed up against his.

"And that Orion" Victor replied letting out a puff of breath "he totally creamed me when I helped him practice for that martial arts tournament he was taking part in".

Oliver raised his eyebrow. First his daughter is a genius, and then his son is a lean mean fighting machine. He found himself wondering briefly if Orion would defeat him if they ever fought each other. Chloe pulled away from him when the doorbell rang and Oliver found himself making an inaudible noise of protest at her departure from his side.

"Bruce" she exclaimed loudly and moved to hug him.

"Hello Chloe" he greeted.

Oliver made his way towards his childhood friend and gave him a man to man hug, surveying his friend. He hadn't had the time to scrutinize Bruce earlier in the day as they'd been too busy, he'd only noticed to his great chagrin that Bruce didn't have as many wrinkles as he did. But now that he had a proper look at his friend, he noticed that Bruce looked troubled and somewhat withdrawn and there was an infinite amount of sadness in his eyes that Oliver hadn't seen in the younger Bruce.

"No kids this time Bruce?" Chloe asked with a tilt of her head.

The batman shook his head with a small smile. "I couldn't bring them, Terry is managing Wayne enterprises while I'm here and Max has school and Chris wants to be with his brothers so it's just me this trip.

"I really wanted to see them. I haven't seen Terry since he was seven" Chloe put in.

"Well you won't have to wait long to see him" Bruce replied with a glint in his eyes.

"What? What do you mean Bruce?" Chloe asked and he smiled knowingly.

"I'll tell you when Clark and Lois get here" he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Oliver looked at him suspiciously but Bruce only smiled and went to greet the others.

"Hey Bruce" Victor greeted; Bart who was stuffing his face with chips raised a hand in greeting.

"Bruce dude how's it hanging" AC asked meshing his fist against Bruce's.

"Not bad guys how's things with you?" he asked and AC sighed.

"Same old thing dude" he replied "just rallying and making the world a better place to live in. So how are the kids? Wait, how old are they again?" he asked.

"Terry's twenty, Max is sixteen and Chris is seven" Bruce replied and Victor mouthed the word 'wow'.

A sudden swoosh announced the presence of Clark Kent carrying a very greenish looking Lois Lane in his arms. "I think I'm going to throw up" she exclaimed and headed in the direction of the loo.

"What's up with her?" Bart asked.

"Motion sickness" Clark replied simply and Bart nodded his head in understanding.

"That's it" Lois announced after she'd come back from her date with the loo, I am never getting a lift from you ever again Clark Kent".

"Yeah right" Clark mumbled "that's what you said the last time".

"I may not have super hearing Smallville but I sure as hell heard that" she replied wagging a scarlet tipped finger at him.

"UNCLE CLARK, AUNT LOIS" came a loud shriek and with speed that would make both her uncles Bart and Clark proud, little Lois threw herself into Clark's arms hugging him and later hugging her namesake as well. Harlan and Orion followed closely behind her and greeted their Uncles.

"Harley" Bruce exclaimed warmly "you're getting prettier every time I see you" he remarked and she laughed.

"And you use the same line every time I see you" she retorted and he chuckled.

"Because it's true" Bruce remarked. "How's my favorite god daughter doing?" he asked and she shrugged.

"Ok I guess" Harlan replied in a tone that suggested that things were not ok.

"Kids in your school still making fun of you?" he asked and the rest of the uncles gave her a sympathetic look.

"Does everyone know about this?" she asked putting her hands on her hips glaring at them.

"So much like Chloe" Bart sighed and nodded his head along with Victor, Clark and AC.

"Orrie and his god dammed big mouth" she cursed glaring in the direction her brother had gone off to minutes ago.

"If you ever need any help" Bart said punching his right fist into his left palm "you can always call your Uncle Bart".

"Was that your attempt at being threatening Uncle Bart, because if it was you're doing a pretty poor job" Harlan retorted.

"Ooh she shoots and she scores" Victor put in and Bart made a face at him.

"Well I'm not bothered about them" she said and Oliver felt an unexpected burst of pride erupt within him at her determination.

"It'll be easier with Maya by your side" Victor added and Harlan stopped in her tracks turning around to look at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked carefully and Victor smiled a slow secretive smile "she's coming back for her final year and she'll be in your year. She decided that she's had enough of boarding school and she wants to be around since the birth of Naira".

"Oh my gosh! That's great Uncle Vic" she replied happily and enveloped him in a bone crushing hug. "Oh I can't wait to see her".

"Wait didn't Brucie have something to say?" the elder Lois asked.

"As a matter of fact I do" Bruce said and all of them listened attentively. "I have decided that after today's merger of Queen Industries with Wayne enterprises, I'm moving my family over to Star City".

Oliver's mouth dropped open. "What? When?" he asked and Bruce laughed.

"Well I thought that today after the merger of our businesses it would be better to move to Star city. I would be closer to the business and not to mention the league" he replied.

"Wait, have you bought a place yet and when are you coming over?" Oliver asked.

"The kids and I will be coming over in a couple of weeks so that I've tied up all the lose ends. It's been five years since Rachel died but every time I step into the mansion I'm reminded of her. Maybe it's high time I had a change, she wouldn't want me putting my life on hold".

"Wow that's a big move Bruce" Clark said "although I can't say I'm not happy. It'll be nice to be close to everyone".

"Yes that's what I thought, I want the kids especially Chris and Max to grow up in a family environment and that's what they'll get here in Star City. I mean everyone's here except for Clark but he can make it here in a snap so it doesn't count. As for the house issue, it looks like we're going to be neighbors" Bruce said looking at Oliver and Chloe.

"What? Are you serious? That's great!" Chloe replied. "Considering that our house and your future house are the only houses in the area for ten kilometers, with you moving in it'll be easier to borrow a cup of sugar".

"Well I'd say a celebration is in order then" Oliver exclaimed. "To the birth of Victor's two week old baby girl, to Maya's return, to Bruce's big move to Star City and to the merger of Wayne enterprises and Queen Industries" he called and raising his bottle of bud in the air, he took a hearty swig. The others raised their drinks in the air and toasted the good news.

"Clark would you do the honors" Chloe asked and Clark sighed.

"I'm not your microwave Chlo" he said rolling his eyes.

"Yes but who else has the skill and power to heat up all those pizzas" she asked.

"Fine, fine" Clark replied and using his laser vision he heated up the pizzas.

"Hooray for Uncle Clark" little Lois yelled out and Clark hoisted her up onto his shoulders.

"Let's eat" Orion called "I'm starving".

"Hear, hear" Victor called out and they all dug into the boxes of pizza.

* * *

"So how's Stacy?" Bart asked as he and Orion reached out to grab a slice of meat lovers.

"Oh Uncle Bart, what can I say she's got the best"-

"Ahem" Chloe cleared her throat and indicated to little Lois that was sitting a little distance away looking up at her brother in rapt attention.

"Facial expressions" Orion finished lamely and his little sister looked puzzled.

"Right then" Bart announced and abruptly changed the subject "who's up for a game of Street fighter?" he called out.

"I am" Harlan yelled jumping up from her place beside her Aunt Lois and walked over to Bart.

"Ready to get you butt whooped little lady?" Bart asked handing her a console.

"Yeah right, you just bring it on Uncle speedy Gonzales" she remarked "then we'll see whose butt will endure a whooping".

"Come on Harlan" Chloe yelled cheering for her daughter as the game began.

"Dude" AC exclaimed to Bart ten minutes into the game "you're getting your ass kicked by a kid man".

"Yeah that's my god daughter" Bruce exclaimed proudly.

When the screen flashed a bold **GAME OVER! PLAYER 1 WINS **Harlan let out a loud shriek and Chloe patted her on the back.

"I win, I win" she stood up chanting in Bart's face while the latter scowled.

"Come on dude she beat you fair and square man stop being such a sore loser" AC said.

"Thank you Uncle AC. See Uncle Bart I told you I'd beat you and just because I'm better than you, you don't have to be such a bad sport" she taunted jumping around him and chanting.

"I don't get it" Bart was telling anyone who would listen. "I played this with her last week and she sucked! How the hell did she get good in a week?" he said which promptly earned him a telling off from little Lois for using the word hell while Oliver hid a snigger behind his palm. The doorbell rang yet no one made a move to get it. The staff were off today so usually one of the Queens took up the doorbell duty.

"I'll get it" Orion called as his mother made a move to get up. She smiled at him and he headed off to open the door.

"Hell"- he started to say but didn't finish as he opened the door to the most breathtaking female he had ever seen in his life. "O" he finished in a puff of breath.

"Who died?" she asked taking in the all black attire he had donned for the evening and smirked at him showing her pearly white teeth.

"Maya?" he asked dumbly as he drank in her appearance, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.

"No it's the tooth fairy" she replied back sarcastically. "If you keep your mouth open like that you'll attract flies" she added smarmily and he jerked out of his reverie. The last time he'd seen her she'd been about as attractive as a doorknob. Now, was an entirely different story. Her lightly tanned skin was glowing and her hair hung in thick brown waves to her mid back. Her dark brown eyes were large and expressive framed with thick, dark lashes. When Orion has seen her four years ago, she'd been as flat as a runway but time had certainly been kind to her he mused noticing that she'd filled out nicely. Despite the modest light blue t-shirt and black jeans, Orion couldn't miss the hint of what lay underneath. She'd always been witty in a frustrating sort of way and it didn't seem like things had changed on that front.

"Go boil your head in"- he began but his mother cut him off.

"Maya?" Chloe asked coming to the door. Probably to see what held up her son.

"Hi Aunt Chloe, it's great to see you" she replied warmly and Chloe embraced her.

"It's been so long darling" Chloe replied and Orion watched feeling sore that she'd only just entered and somehow managed to have the last word. Well technically he would have had the last word but seeing that he didn't get to finish his sentence it didn't really qualify.

Chloe led Maya into the living room and Orion followed closely behind watching Maya with a dark look on his face. How was it possible for someone to change so much in a span of four years. Although her personality was still the same, he thought wryly. She still had a witty comeback for him every time he saw her. Not next time though, next time he would be prepared.

"Maya?" came Harlan's questioning voice from the other side of the room "MAYA" she shrieked and gave the tanned girl the hug of a lifetime. "Oh my god Maya, it's been forever since I last saw you!" Harlan exclaimed. "And oh wow, you look great".

"Thanks" Maya replied shyly and Orion rolled his eyes. She was being shy now? Why couldn't she have been shy earlier?

"And I heard you're coming to our school. That'll be great" Harlan said and Maya nodded.

"Yeah at least I've have one friend" she replied and Harlan nodded.

"That'll make two of us" she muttered.

After greeting everyone Harlan asked Maya if she wanted to play darts. "Sure" Maya replied and followed Harlan.

"Orrie you want to play darts with us?" Harlan asked her twin.

Orion caught Maya's raised eyebrow and challenging smirk and replied with a fierce "yes I'm coming". He'd show her, darts was something he was good at; apart from archery but not that his parents knew about that little talent of course. He'd done his best to keep it a secret. He followed the two girls glaring at lifeless objects, feeling frustrated as he realized that he'd be staring at the back of Maya's pretty brown haired head quite a bit almost bumping into her when they stopped. He cursed himself silently for not staying focused.

"Maya you'll go first" Harlan said and handed Maya the red feathered darts. She hit her dart an inch off the bull's eye.

"Not bad" Orion remarked cockily. "For a beginner" he replied. He'd definitely show her up later when it was his turn.

Maya narrowed her eyes and replied coolly with a "thanks".

Harlan went next also missing the target by a good inch or so. "It's ok, my talents don't lie in darts" she said consoling herself and Maya laughed. It was a nice bone tingling laugh that seemed to vibrate within Orion. He scowled watching her with narrowed eyes.

"My turn" he said taking a dart and aiming for the bull's eye. From the corner of his eye, he saw her watching him with those chocolate brown eyes. He threw the dart which unfortunately, landed on one of the rings furthest away from the intended target and Orion was pissed.

"Not bad" Maya replied sardonically "for someone who's done this for ages".

He scowled at her "I wasn't paying attention" he replied gruffly and she sniggered.

"Oh sure" she replied smarmily.

By the end of the game it was clear, that if Orion hadn't been paying attention when it came to the first dart than he wasn't paying attention for the rest of the game as well. In fact, he'd tied in last place with Harlan. It was the worst game of darts that he'd ever played in his entire life. In total Maya had accumulated 460 point while Harlan and Orion had accumulated 360 points each. Orion threw the darts savagely to the ground. He had humiliated himself in front of Maya.

"Wow Orion I didn't know you were so good at darts" Maya retorted with a nasty smirk.

"Shut up" he replied testily "it's all your fault".

"My fault?" she asked incredulously "how the hell is it my fault if _you _lose".

"You were distracting me, with your evil eyes" he replied and she snorted with laughter.

"Right, I always knew you were a sore loser but I didn't know you would stoop as low as to blame someone else for your own loss"

"Go shut your nose in a door" he shot back and she laughed.

"That's the best you could come up with?" she asked and Harlan laughed nervously.

"Don't test me" he said advancing towards her till their faces were just inches apart. "You're just lucky that you're a girl. I don't hit girls" he growled.

"Uh guys come on let's just go inside" Harlan said and Orion let out a frustrated cry and made his way back into the house walking ahead of the girls. Harlan looked stunned while Maya looked unaffected.

* * *

Half an hour later, Oliver found Orion muttering angrily to himself and occasionally shooting angry glances at Victor's daughter.

"Can't believe her" he muttered angrily to himself "and then I had to go and be all smart about it- Argh!" Orion banged his head down on the dining table and stayed that way mumbling to himself every now and then. Oliver almost laughed out aloud. His son was clearly flustered by Victor's daughter and why shouldn't he be, she was a pretty girl and he was sure that Orion had noticed that too. Maybe he should go talk to the kid, there was clearly something bothering him and if Oliver was staying in 'this world' for a while, then he didn't want to remain on bad terms with his own son. He should make the best of the situation and do what the 'real' Ollie would do.

"Something the matter son?" he asked and Orion looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"No, not that it's any of your business but nothing's wrong" he replied haughtily and Oliver wanted to laugh. Orion reminded him so much of himself when he was at that age. Oliver sighed and sat himself down on the chair beside his son. "What do you want?" his son asked rudely.

"I just want to talk" Oliver replied gently. Making peace with his son was proving to be a lot harder than he thought.

"Talk?" Orion asked then let out a bitter scoff. "I have nothing to say to you".

"Yes but I have a lot to say to you" Oliver replied.

"I'm listening" Orion said.

"Look I know you're angry about not being able to join the justice league but at the moment I just can't let you join the team. I am really sorry but it's just not possible. Maybe in the future but not now" he said carefully.

"Whatever, it's all just an excuse and anyway I really don't care about that now. I've decided to let things go. No use getting worked up over your dumb league anyway" he replied hotly.

"That's a rather mature way of looking at things" Oliver replied with a quirk of his lips. "So we're at a truce then?" he asked.

"Hmm…"Orion mumbled "I guess so, but only because I have more important things to worry about at the moment than your stupid league" he replied.

"Would that have anything to do with a certain girl name starting with Ma and ending with a ya?" Oliver asked and Orion looked at him sharply.

"Why would you say that?" he asked and Oliver chuckled.

"I notice things contraire to what you might think" he replied and Orion let out a frustrated sigh.

"Argh! Dad you don't get it! She's the most infuriating girl I've ever met in my life" he exclaimed and Oliver smiled.

"Yeah I've met a few of those".

"Well? What happened dad?" Orion asked looking interested.

"Well it so happens that I married one of them" he replied and Orion looked as if someone had slapped him.

"There's no way I'm going to end up hitched with _her_" he spat shooting a dirty glance at Maya who was in the other room talking to Chloe.

Oliver shrugged "be careful what you say".

"She never used to be so…so…feisty when we were younger. Now she's just plain infuriating" he remarked and Oliver chuckled.

"Is it bothering you because she doesn't succumb to you like the other girls?" he asked and Orion looked sharply back at him.

"What?"

"I mean from the looks of things, you've always had girls falling at you feet. Like Stacy and Michelle and all those other girls you went out with right? And now you've met someone who's the total opposite. She's witty and feisty and it bugs you because she's not like the rest" Oliver said.

"I don't know dad, I really have no idea why I'm so bothered by her. Every time we have a conversation it always ends up with some sarcastic remark or some kind of wise ass crack."

"Maybe because you're attracted to her" Oliver replied simply and Orion laughed sardonically. Upon noticing the look on his father's face he stopped abruptly.

"Wait you're serious?" Orion asked and Oliver nodded. "No way! You've got to be kidding me. There's no way I'll be attracted to that, I don't think anyone will".

"Well when you go back to school the day after tomorrow you'll see. Just come back and tell me if I'm right" Oliver replied and left Orion to his thoughts.

* * *

Later that night when everyone had gone back home, Oliver sat up against his bed board flicking through the channels on his huge plasma screen. He wasn't really in the mood for watching TV that night. He was more preoccupied with his thoughts. Although he had been thinking about the twins. He was happy and satisfied that he'd made peace with his son but he was sure that there was a reason why he was stuck in this 'world'. Although had yet to find out why.

**Click**

"And tonight on the woman's channel, how to deal with menopause"- well he definitely wasn't watching that.

**Click**

"It's a spectacular win for Manchester United as their star player Christiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick against"- Nope, Oliver wasn't really in a soccer mood.

**Click**

"On amazing rescues tonight, the amazing story of how a Chihuahua pulls it's hundred and ten kilo owner from a burning house"- Oliver scoffed, yeah right he thought to himself.

**Click**

"Then the male gorilla gives a loud cry before mating with the female gorilla"- No, definitely not that.

**Click**

"Dora the explorer!"- Hell no he thought to himself switching off the TV. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the bed board.

"Ollie?" Chloe asked as she came out of their bathroom wearing her Terry robe. "Feeling tensed?" she asked and he nodded with his eyes still shut. "Well then let me loosen you up" she replied and pushed him forward gently. She knelt behind him and used her fingers to smooth out the knots in his shoulders. _Wow, now I could definitely get used to this_ he thought to himself._ Hmmm so good_ he said almost moaning out aloud. Chloe stood up from the bed facing him, smiling slyly.

"So" she said "Lois told me you've been good today" she replied and Oliver wondered where she was going with this. "So I've decided that you deserve a reward" she replied and Oliver blinked.

"I do?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yes" she replied and she slipped off the terry robe, letting it pool at her feet. Oliver gaped at her in shock. She was wearing a forest green fashion top teddy that consisted of a matching thong, a bra and a see through top.

Oliver felt his little Ollie harden and he gulped nervously as she crawled towards him. She climbed into his lap, straddling his hips. She'd already pulled off her see through top and Oliver hoped that she'd pull off the rest of the fabric that covered her. "Err…exactly why do I deserve this again?" he asked and she smiled devilishly.

"For being the best husband and father" she replied and kissed his neck. He bit his lip to keep himself from hissing with pleasure. He felt slightly guilty, he hadn't exactly been any of those things that she mentioned but he promised himself if he was still in this 'world' tomorrow, he'd make more of an effort. All thoughts flew out of his brain as she ran her hands through his hair, ravaging his mouth with hers. Oliver heard her moan into his mouth and thought for a moment that he might lose it right then and there. She helped him shed his boxers and he paused for a second.

_I can't be doing this_ he thought to himself. _She's watchtower, my friend. I can't just use her like this_. _Well actually she's your wife_ a voice in his head shot back _and besides she came onto you_. _I guess you're right _he reasoned and soon all thoughts had flown out of his head. He decided to just simply enjoy the moment.

He kissed his way down from her lips to her chin, to her throat then to the. He fumbled with the clasp holding her bra together and she sighed when he freed her swollen breasts that were aching to be touched. He bent his head down to a nipple, gently suckling while his other hand went up to knead the other breast.

"God Ollie" she moaned and arched her back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and it's wasn't long before his little Ollie throbbed with want and need. "Now Ollie, now" she ordered and he was only happy to comply, thrusting his length into her. She moaned sending a tingle down Oliver's spine and he grunted into her mouth. "Faster, faster" she bit out and he did just that, thrusting faster and harder into her.

"Oh Ollie" she cried and he felt her body shudder beneath his and seconds later he came after her, calling her name on his lips.

He rolled off her feeling exhausted and satisfied. _God that was amazing_, he thought to himself. _It's no wonder I have four kids_.

"God I love you" Chloe whispered as she turned on her side to face him, kissing his lips gently. He caressed her face with the back of his hand, looking into her emerald eyes. They were about to go for round two, he could feel it. She kissed his lips, using her tongue to gain access to his mouth which he willingly allowed. His fingers traced intricate patterns around her back and he felt heat course through his body from where her hands rested around his neck. She buried her face in his neck and one of her hands reached down below his waist to-

"Daddy?" he heard a small voice call from the other side of his room door. _Ignore it_ he ordered himself. "Daddy?" it came again followed by light knocking on the door. Chloe sighed and pulled away from him. The guilt welled up inside him. Didn't he promise he was going to be a better husband and father?

"I'll get it" he told Chloe and she nodded.

"Don't be too long" she whispered with a smile as he hurriedly pulled on his boxers. He walked bare bodied to the door opening it to reveal a frightened looking Lois carrying her beloved Batty the Bat.

"Oh daddy" she cried letting out a little sob.

"What's the matter?" he asked surprising himself at the level of concern in his voice.

"I can't sleep. There are monsters in my closet" she replied and pulled him by the hand to her room.

"Where?" he asked as he stepped inside her room. She pointed a little finger to the closet door on the far corner of her room.

With a grin, he remembered what his father used to do for him as a kid when he himself had claimed that there were monsters in his closet. He raised a finger to his lips motioning for her to be silent and her eyes went wide. He crept slowly towards the closet when he heard her little voice call him.

"Daddy" she called and he looked at her questioningly "be careful" she whispered and he nodded.

He stepped into the closet and closed the door behind him. He pushed down a few of her toys making quite a racket. He wanted it to seem like there was a battle going on in her closet. He ruffled his hair a little and stepped out of her closet, closing the door behind him.

"They're all gone" he announced and she flung herself into his arms. He picked her up into his arms and she kissed his cheek looping her arms around his neck tightly.

"Are you ok daddy? Did they hurt you?" she asked looking at him with teary green eyes that made Oliver wish he hadn't been too dramatic.

"It was nothing I couldn't handle" he assured her and she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"Come on, let's get you to bed" he said and carried her to her pink infested bed.

He laid her down on the queen sized bed and pulled the duvet over her. He switched on the night lamp to give her some light. "Goodnight Lois" he said ruffling her hair and he was walking towards the door when she called him back.

"Daddy? Will you stay with me please? Just in case the monsters come back?" she asked in a small voice. He nodded and walked back to her bed. He climbed onto her pink bed, sliding under the covers beside her. He reached over and switched off the night lamp leaving the room in total darkness. He looked up at the blackness above him and wondered what his parents would say if they saw him now. He felt a sudden warmth press against his side and he realized that Lois had curled herself into a fetal position against his side, with her head rested against his shoulder. With a warm feeling settling in his stomach, he closed his eyes and was slowly drifting off to sleep that he almost didn't hear the words his daughter was mumbling in her sleep.

"I love you daddy, you're my hero" she had said so softly and sleepily that Oliver wasn't sure if she even knew she what she was saying. Nevertheless it had given him a pleasant feeling in his heat and with a smile on his face he drifted off into a world of slumber.

**

* * *

**

**Author's note:** Hi guys, sorry that this chapter is kind of long winded, it's just that I needed to put a lot of stuff in to set up the story. Also in your review, it would be great if you told me if you'd like more on Harlan and Orion and their POV and their little individual happenings. Or you could vote on the poll on my profile. Also I'm sorry that the rating has changed but its' all due to the little mild sex piece that I've written on Chloe and Oliver. Also to anonymous reviewers if you'd like me to reply to your review do leave me your e-mail address because I do reply personally to all my reviews!

**The next chapter**: More of Oliver and Chloe, more on the league and their missions. Oliver reacts more with his kids. Maya arrives at school with Harlan and Orion is pissed. Harlan gets a boyfriend and Bruce and his kids arrive in Star city. Plus many kids in star city go missing.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing…nothing belongs to me except Harlan and Orion

**Disclaimer: I own nothing…nothing belongs to me except Harlan and Orion**

**Author's note: ****First off I want to thank all those that have read this far into the story. Secondly I've had a review on the exact description on Maya. Ok, Maya is sort of a light caramel color because her mom's white so the mix in skin color between her mother and father produced a color that looks lightly tanned. She mostly takes after her mom. If you have any more questions I would be happy to answer them.**

**Chapter 4**

Opening his eyes to an incredibly pink ceiling Oliver realized at once, to his dismay that he was still not back in his original time period. Although he wasn't well acquainted with the pink drowned room, he recognized the fairy murals on the wall to realize that he had fallen asleep in Lois's room. Speaking of Lois, he looked down to his left and found the object of his thoughts burrowed into his side in a fetal position sleeping peacefully. A smile tugged at his lips and he couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked. She reminded him of the cherubs that his mother had painted on the ceiling of his nursery when he was a child. He brought a hand to unconsciously stoke her hair feeling suddenly at peace with the world. A sudden sharp pain jerked him out of his ponderings and he brought a hand up to his head. His head began to pound as though someone was playing the drums on his brain. He felt a sense of dizziness overwhelm him and images and scenes flashed before his eyes. It was like he was looking into a window of his world. Only thing was, it wasn't him. It was someone who looked like him.

_He was standing in the very same pink room that he was in now wearing a cape, a crown, a tunic with poufy sleeves and a pair of tights. It was made quite obvious that he was indeed a prince. So where was his princess? She was standing by a man made tower with a giant stuffed dragon in her hands. Wearing a pink dress with a poufy skirt she had achieved her aim of looking princess like and now was acting out the part._

"_Someone save me! Save me from the meanie dragon!" she cried flailing her arms all over the place to make it look like the dragon was trying to eat her._

"_I'll save you Princess Lois!" Prince Oliver shouted and made an elaborate show of advancing towards the grey cardboard tower. _

"_Hah! Take that meanie dragon my daddy- I mean my prince is coming to save me and you won't stand a chance"._

"_Alas I have come to rescue my fair princess from your evil clutches oh dastardly dragon!" Prince Oliver yelled brandishing his cardboard sword at the stuffed dragon that was being waved about by the princess._

_He grabbed the dragon and began wrestling with it on the floor while the princess screamed continuously for a more dramatic effect._

"_There" Prince Oliver exclaimed letting out a puff of breath "Princess I have slain the evil fiend. You are safe!" He picked her from the tower and placed her gently on the ground._

_To show her gratitude to the brave prince, the princess threw her arms around the prince's waist and hugged him tightly. She would have hugged him higher if only she could reach for her head barely came up to his navel._

"_You're safe now" he replied with an amused smile at his lips._

"_Not quite" came a voice from the entrance of the room and the princess let out a loud gasp. _

"_Oh no!" she exclaimed melodramatically with the back of her right hand placed over her forehead. "It's the evil king Orion"._

"_That's not all little princess" cackled another voice from behind the evil king._

"_Oh no!" the princess exclaimed yet again "its king Orion's evil helper, wicked witch Harlan!"_

"_Stand back my princess, daddy- I mean Prince Oliver is here to protect you" Oliver exclaimed pushing his princess out of harm's way._

"_Ok dad, time out for a sec" Harlan said standing up straight and pushing back the hood of her cloak. "First of all please we're asking, no begging you, not to refer to yourself in third person, it's kind of distracting" she said. _

"_Yeah dad" Orion replied abandoning his charade as the evil king. "I have to agree with Harley on this one, I mean you're stealing my thunder man. This is just not working for me"._

_Prince Oliver sighed and with a roll of his eyes he raised his hands up in defeat. "Fine, fine you win ok? So let's take it from when the two of you come in?" he asked and the twins nodded. Princess Lois nodded along with the twins and after taking a moment to compose herself, she flung herself into Prince Oliver's arms._

"_Oh daddy- Prince Oliver look! It's the evil King Orion and his evil witch Harlan._

"_That's right princess" Orion boomed "we have come to kill you!"_

_Princess Lois's eyes went wide and she gasped out a mortified "no" as evil King Orion's words sank in._

"_After we kill you Princess, we shall RULE THE WORLD" evil King Orion roared and witch Harlan cackled._

"_NEVER!" Prince Oliver shouted "you will never take my princess from me!"_

"_Let's see you try and stop us" witch Harlan cackled waving her hand to produce an invisible wall of fire. Princess Lois let out a strangled cry as Prince Oliver pushed her behind him and jumped into the fire slashing his sword at the evil King Orion. The evil king Orion let out a loud roar of pain as Prince Oliver's sword cut a deep gash on his arm._

"_You will pay for that" the evil king Orion growled and he nodded in the direction of evil witch Harlan. In retaliation for wounding her master, witch Harlan directed beams of invisible light at Prince Oliver. _

_In one swift motion, Prince Oliver drew two small daggers hidden in his boots and hurled them at the evil duo. The accurately aimed daggers had pierced right through the hearts of evil King Orion and witch Harlan._

_King Orion fell first, swearing his revenge with his final breath. Witch Harlan fell after him with a blood curdling scream. She sank to the floor on a lifeless pile. Prince Oliver sank to his knees exhausted from the fight staring at the two dead corpses with a mixture of triumph and finality._

"_The great evil has been defeated" Prince Oliver exclaimed "you are now safe fair princess"._

"_I was so scared" she whispered and Prince Oliver hugged her to him._

"_Don't be" he replied "daddy- I will always be here to protect you"._

"_I know da- Prince Oliver and for that I am grapeful" she said solemnly._

"_I think you mean grateful" he corrected._

"_Yeah that's the one" she replied. "For saving my life I thank you oh brave and noble Prince Oliver, you're my hero" she whispered burrowing her tiny face into his neck._

_A faint knock on the door alerted Prince Oliver. He looked up just in time to see the person enter the room. "As Queen of this palace I order you down to dinner" she said with an air of superiority._

_Princess Lois giggled into her hands. "Mommy you look silly" she said._

"_That's Queen Chloe to you" she replied and Princess Lois giggled yet again_

_The little girl giggled and Chloe feigned a look of hurt and pressed the back of her hand against her forehead in a dramatic show of being wounded._

_Oliver laughed and picked up his daughter and gathered his wife into his arms. "Oof mommy, daddy you're squashing me" she said_

_Chloe pulled away and properly taking in the prince like garb that Oliver was wearing, she laughed. "No matter how many times you wear that I don't think I'll ever get used to seeing you in it"._

"_Hey" he exclaimed in mock outrage "I look good in puffy sleeves, it makes my arms look more buff"._

"_If it makes you feel any better daddy, I think you look handsome" Lois added._

"_Why thank you Lois, at least someone likes it" he said._

_Spotting the former evil King Orion and witch Harlan on the floor Chloe looked questioningly at Oliver. "Have they fallen asleep again?" she asked and Oliver shrugged his shoulders._

"_Well we'd better wake them up if not they'll miss dinner like they did the last time" she replied._

"_I've got it covered"Oliver assured and crossed the room to grab the air horn that he'd left by the window._

"_I'll be downstairs" Chloe replied and hastily made her way out of the room not wanting to be in range of the dreaded air horn._

"_Ready on the count of three ok?" Oliver asked looking at Lois who nodded her head with her palms firmly clamped on her ears._

"_One, two, three" he pressed a finger down on the head of the air horn and it produced the most ear bursting noise. Orion and Harlan woke with a start._

"_What the fuc-?" Orion trailed off angrily when he noticed the way his father was glaring at him. "What did you do that for?"_

"_The two of you were sleeping" Oliver replied simply._

"_We always fall asleep, it's just not cool O" Harlan complained._

"_I know but there's always something so comforting about lying on the floor that makes me go to sleep" he replied._

"_Are you serious?" his twin asked looking at him like he'd grown an extra head "I just go to sleep because I get bored after a while. Dad and Lois get all the big monologues and crap and we just die"._

"_Well I find it rather comforting. It relaxes me and after a while I'm completely at ease with everything" Orion replied._

"_Wow, way to be deep" Harlan commented and her brother glared at her._

"_Come on guys" Oliver said laughing "let's go have dinner"._

"_Great" Harlan replied "I'm starving, I could eat a cow"._

"_You're always starving" Orion retorted "when are you not…"_

_The voices trailed off and Oliver felt his vision blurring. He rubbed his eyes trying to clear the pictures but when he opened them again…_

He was staring back into the face of Lois. She was seated cross legged on his chest staring curiously at him. He could do nothing but stare dumbly back at her.

"Daddy are you ok?" she asked.

"I- I- I uh yeah?" he replied.

"Are you sure because you don't look ok" she replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm fine" he replied rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Well good then" she replied jumping off his chest. "Let's go for breakfast! I'm hungry".

He watched his daughter bounce out of the room with energy and life and felt a stab of envy. If only he had that much energy so early in the morning. His mind diverted back to just a few moments before. _Was I dreaming? Or did I have a moment of temporary insanity right then? Meh whatever… I wonder what's for breakfast._

He looked at his iphone and checked his schedule for the day. _So first it's a short trip to the office but only about a half hour or so. It's a Saturday, I need to enjoy my weekend too although with this lot in the house, there's no way I'd be able to enjoy myself right? Maybe I could get a little alone time with Chloe. That would be awesome, but how? With all the little runts around there's no way we'd be alone, unless…Maybe I'll get one of the others to babysit them for me. Victor would be ideal, he's the sensible one of the lot. I'll give him a call when I get to work. Wow, maybe this weekend wouldn't be that bad._

Harlan Queen crossed the border that separated her half of the giant room from her brothers and made her way to the black sheeted bed in the corner. She folded her arms and stared at the lump on the bed.

"O" she called poking the lump. "O you have to get up mom and dad want us down for breakfast. Come on Orrie".

His head snapped out at once "I thought I told you never to call me Orrie, O is fine just not Orrie. Only Lois can call me that".

"Well you didn't correct me yesterday so I just figured"-

"It was one day, I was preoccupied. But never again, do we have an agreement?"

"Yeah, yeah ok fine. What's up your butt?" she asked testily.

"Nothing so now will you please leave me alone?" he asked.

"No can do brother dearest. Mom wanted me to come down and get you, we promised Uncle AC that we'd go with him to the rally thing today did you forget?" she asked and when he groaned she took that as a yes.

"So you'd better get downstairs quick" Harlan said and chucked her brother his towel.

* * *

"Morning family" Harlan called cheerfully as she sat down to a bowl of cereal.

"Morning baby" her mother greeted while trying to feed baby Carl.

"Hello Harley" Lois grinned waving at her sister.

"Morning" Oliver called in between reading the daily newspaper. "So what's everyone's plan for today?" he asked.

"I'm going to watch Spongebob Square pants with Asher while uncle AC is at that rally thing" Lois replied.

"And I'm going to be watching them watch Spongebob Squarepants" Chloe replied with a grin and Oliver couldn't help but grin back. She was really starting to grow on him.

"I'm going to the rally with O. It's a save the whales rally" Harlan replied shrugging off her leather jacket to expose her white t-shirt with large bold lettering that said **SAVE THE WHALES.**

"What about you daddy?" she asked.

"I'm not quite sure yet, I have to go to work to pick up some paperwork but after that we'll see how it goes" he said putting the paper down. "Alright everyone I'm off, I'll see you all later.

"Where's Orion?" Oliver asked realizing that he had a missing Queen.

"Upstairs" Harlan replied "he woke up late".

"Oh ok" Oliver replied and on his way out he looked up and shouted a "BYE ORION".

"Bye dad" came the faint call from above.

On his way out, Oliver bumped into Maya who was coming out of her black SUV. "Hey Maya" he greeted and she smiled back.

"Well if it isn't my favorite godfather, hi Uncle Ollie" she said.

"Are you going for the rally too?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, Uncle AC asked me if I wanted to come yesterday and Harley said we could all go together. I'm kind of excited to tell you the truth".

"I can see that" he said taking in her white t-shirt with the slogan **POACH EGGS NOT WHALES**.

"Well I'd better go inside and get Harley" she said and with a hug she bid her godfather good day.

* * *

Orion Queen hurried down the stairs. He'd just put on his socks and shoes and was in the midst of putting on his shirt when the doorbell rang. Walking in the direction of the door, he let out a great yawn. For some reason, he hadn't slept well last night. His mind was restless and had kept him awake.

Hearing him come down the stairs his mother called out "are you getting that O?"

"Yeah I'm getting-" he said as he opened the door and then when he saw Maya standing there he whispered "…that".

"Who drowned you in a well?" she asked taking in his dark hair that hung in limp wet strands down to his collar.

"Poach eggs not whales? Wow you're really original Maya"

"Yes as opposed to you" she replied sardonically looking at his bare black t-shirt.

"I have something original, more original than your stupid t-shirt" he replied after her as she stepped past him and into the house.

"Yeah right" she said with a sarcastic chuckle.

He stepped towards her, corning her against the door frame. "Just watch and see" he said in a dangerous whisper staring at her.

"Right" she said with a hint of nervousness and pushed past him her long hair whipping his face. He closed his eyes as her strawberry scent drowned his senses. With a shake of his head he forced himself out of his temporary freeze and walked towards the girls.

"Come on O let's get going or we'll be late" Harlan said and she and Maya walked out of the door together. Orion gave a loud sigh and grabbing his leather jacket from the hook by the door, he followed them.

* * *

"2, 4, 6, 8 WHO DO WE APPRECIATE? WHALES!" Maya and Harlan were stomping around and chanting loudly while Orion sat on the bench looking quite bored. He and AC had long ago decided to take a much deserved break.

"That Maya won't stop for nothing" AC remarked looking at the girls.

"Yeah" Orion replied cautiously.

Harlan came and sat herself down next to her brother. Grabbing the water bottle from him she eyed him carefully "so what's this totally original thing that you told Maya you're going to do? We're all waiting for it" she replied.

"Don't rush me Harley, creativity takes time" Orion replied.

"Yeah time that we don't have" she shot back.

He watched Maya walking around; she was the only one protesting. Everyone else had decided to take a break. She was still chanting around by herself. Orion watched as someone chucked a tirade of drink cups at her and coke spilled all over her. She threw down her hand made signs and rolled up her sleeves and began advancing towards the cup throwing coke spiller when Orion pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" she hissed wrenching her hand free from his grasp.

"I'm preventing you from making a big mistake" he hissed back.

"Leave me alone" she bit out "I'm going to smash that asshole's face unless someone does something real quick I signed up to save the whales, no one said anything about non violence".

She made her way slowly, seething, towards the burly cup throwing man who wasn't paying her any attention. She swung her arm back with her hands fisted. Orion panicked as he watched her deciding that he had to do something or she'd be in big trouble. He shrugged off his leather jacket and hurriedly pulled off his t-shirt.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMAN MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE" he boomed over the din. "WE HAVE A PROBLEM, A BIG PROBLEM! WE ARE DESTROYING A SPECIES THAT HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG! THE BLOOD OF THE WHALES IS ON OUR HANDS" He took out the paint packet from his pocket and bursting the packet he smeared the red paint over his bare chest. Looking around he saw that Maya had stopped in her tracks and was now looking at him in rapt attention, her eyes wide and alert and inwardly he sighed with relief. At least he'd stopped her from doing something stupid then as his attention shifted back to the mini crowd that had gathered around him, he realized to his dismay that he might actually have to carry on with his little show.

He had no idea why he decided to save her butt. He should have just let her carry on and made a big fool of herself but no….he had to step in and be the moral self righteous guy. All he knew was that he was losing his mind and it was all because of that dammed Maya Stone.

* * *

Oliver entered the house with a loud "I'M HOME" and not long after there was a rush of footsteps down the stairs and soon after he saw Lois and Chloe coming towards him.

"DADDDDDYYYYYY" Lois squealed and launched herself at him nearly toppling him over.

"Hey Lois" he greeted and she hugged him tighter.

"I missed you daddy" she said before letting go of him.

"Hey Ollie" Chloe whispered huskily and he was welcomed with a full kiss on the lips.

"Hey beautiful" he greeted. _That was the right thing to say right? I mean since she's my wife and all and she is beautiful so that works as well. Wow I'm getting good at this husband thing aren't I?_

"I'm afraid we have some pretty bad news Ollie" she said taking him by the arm and steering him into the living room away from Lois's curious gaze.

"Bad news?" he asked and she nodded her head gravely.

"Yes bad news, there's been quite a few kidnappings lately and yesterday there were 3. When Dinah was on patrol last night she tried to get to the kidnappers just as they were dragging a girl into their van but by the time she got there, they'd left"

Oliver stood stunned for a moment. _Dinah is here? She's in this alternate reality too? Wonder what she looks like? Wait, you can't be thinking like that. You have a wife remember? And not to mentions four kids. But I still want to see what Dinah looks like. God she must be hot._

"Ollie? Ollie? OLIVER" Chloe shouted.

"Huh? Oh yeah the kidnappings. Well I think we should have a meeting tonight and make sure Dinah attends too. We need her so that we have an account of what happened" he said.

"Ok sure no problem" she replied and made a note on her hand held. Oliver rubbed his palms together. _Excellent _he thought to himself.

Oliver turned around as he heard the front doors open and shut with a bang accompanied by loud squabbling. Harlan came through the door first looking worn out and soon after came Orion and Maya arguing about something. Oliver raised his eyebrows when he realized that his son was bare bodied and covered in red paint.

"I didn't need you step in, I'm not some damsel in distress" she argued.

"No you're certainly not a damsel in distress, how could you be when you CAUSE the distress" he argued back.

"Excuse me?? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Don't say the word hell" Lois called from the next room.

"You heard what I said little miss distress causer" Orion shouted.

"I'm not a distress causer!" She yelled.

"Yes you are you're causing me distress" he yelled back. She looked like someone had slapped her.

"How can I be the one causing you distress when I've only been around for 2 days?" she asked her voice a dangerous whisper.

Oliver and Chloe were standing frozen to the spot not quite sure of what to do. Harlan who had previously been rubbing her temples had stopped as well and now turned to stare at her brother.

"I DON'T KNOW OK?" he replied with an agitated cry.

"I'm sorry I have to go" Maya said looking at the floor and without another word, she ran out the door.

"ARGH" Orion yelled out and then he stomped up the stairs.

"Well that was interesting" Chloe remarked looking at Oliver. "What the hell just happened?" she asked him.

"I have no idea" he replied blinking in the direction that his son had stormed off to.

"The sexual tension in the room almost strangled me just a few moments ago" Chloe replied.

"You're telling me" Oliver exclaimed.

"I'm sick of this" Harlan announced suddenly. "I mean, they were practically in love with each other when they were kids and now…they hate each other. I need to do something" she said looking thoughtful.

"That's just what I was thinking" Oliver replied when suddenly his head began to pound and his vision began to blur. _Shit it's happening again._ He saw a picture flash before his eyes as though he was looking through a window of his world.

_He was sitting cross legged on the floor wearing a white sheet on top of his jeans and t-shirt. Oliver supposed he was meant to look like a catholic priest. In front of him stood a little boy and a little girl both five years old. Oliver looked closer and realized that they were Orion and Harlan. Little Orion was wearing a tuxedo and little Harlan was wearing a pale blue dress._

"_Where's Maya?" Harlan whined "she's taking so long"._

"_Maybe she's having second thoughts" Priest Oliver offered and his five year old son glared at him. _

"_She's not having second thoughts dad" he shot back "she's just taking her time"._

"_Taking her time?" Harlan asked incredulously. "It's been half an hour"._

_The room door opened and Victor came in looking rather miffed "the bride is ready" he replied in a dull tone._

"_Ok dad you know what to do don't you?" Harlan asked "you have to join O and Maya in holy matter-money"._

"_Matrimony" priest Oliver corrected._

"_Whatever" she replied. "Now take your places" she ordered "I'm going to be walking down the aisle before Maya because I'm her best friend and then uncle Victor will walk Maya down the aisle ok?"_

"_Yes, yes I know. I have been married before you know however ironic that may sound" priest Oliver put in and he pressed the play button on the stereo system. Mellow classical music began to play and Harlan walked down the aisle beaming proudly and even dared to wave at her father. Then the music changed into the bridal march and five year old Maya walked down the aisle with a very sullen looking Victor who was forced to kneel down to try and match his height with his daughter._

_Orion glanced on at his 'future wife' adoringly and she smiled back shyly. "We are gathered here today to join these two souls in holy matrimony" priest Oliver announced and in the back Victor gave a loud snort which earned him death glares from the three kids._

"_I'm not sure how this is supposed to go but I'll give it a go. Right…err where was I? Oh yes, we are gathered here today to witness the union of these two souls in holy matrimony then blah blah blah…Do you Maya Ankara Stone take Orion Jonas Queen to be your lawful wedded husband in sickness and in health blah blah?"_

"_I do" Maya exclaimed loudly, blushing a deep scarlet as Orion held her hands in his. Orion beamed widely as priest Oliver turned to him._

"_Orion Jonas Queen do you take Maya Ankara stone to be your lawful wedded wife blah blah blah?" priest Oliver asked and Maya smiled showing gapped teeth._

"_I do" he replied._

"_Err…right then, you may now kiss the bride" he announced. Victor looked mortified and jumped up from his seat. _

"_No, no you may NOT kiss the bride" Victor was yelling but nobody seemed to be paying him any attention._

_The two kids puckered their lips and were slowly leaning towards each other for their kiss. But both sets of lips didn't even get a chance to touch each other as a hand had sprung in between like a barrier._

"_Hey" Orion protested looking at Victor whose hand was in between him and Maya "you didn't let me kiss my wife". Behind him priest Oliver smothered a giggle behind his hands while Victor turned around to glare at him._

"_I don't care if she's your wife, she's my daughter. My __**only**__ daughter, I'm not letting you kiss her till…" he looked thoughtful for a while before coming up with a reasonable answer. "Never" he replied smugly._

"_But that's not fair!" Orion cried "I love Maya, she's my woman"._

"_We're only five O, so Maya can't be a woman" Harlan added smarmily from the corner._

"_What would you know? You wouldn't know a real woman if she clubbed you on the head with a baseball bat" Orion shot back._

"_I'll tell mommy you said that" Harlan replied "then she won't let you…"_

"_I don't care, I'm not going to talk to you ever again!" he replied and folded his hands to his chest._

"_Ok, how about we play hide and seek?" priest Oliver suggested trying to change the subject._

"_Yay!" the three kids shouted forgetting their mindless argument of before._

"_Now Uncle Victor and I will seek and you guys hide ok? We'll count to hundred and then we'll come and find you guys ok?" he asked and the three kids nodded and shot out the door._

"_Whew" Victor let out and sank to the floor beside his friend._

"_You're telling me" priest Oliver replied._

"_I can't believe our wives made us stay behind to babysit while they went off to the spa" Victor replied bitterly._

"_I know" priest Oliver replied "but the nanny we hired is off today and your nanny quit"._

"_Yeah" Victor replied looking at priest Oliver "Maya put a few garden snakes in her handbag and she almost had a heart attack. So she said for health reasons she has to quit"._

"_Wow, that bad huh?" priest Oliver asked Victor. "So do you reckon we should start counting now?"_

"_Yeah" Victor replied "1, 2, 3, 4, 98, 99, __**100 **__ready or not here we come" he shouted and Oliver's vision began to blur again and all of a sudden…_

"**Ollie!**" He was staring back into the concerned faces of Chloe and Harlan.

"We thought you'd zoned out on us dad" Harlan said

"I was just thinking about how we might get Orion and Maya together and I think I've got something, but…"

"But what?" Chloe asked.

"For this mission we need Lois" Oliver added.

"Really?" Harlan asked.

"Here's the plan" Oliver said and Chloe and Harlan leaned in closer.

"…and then they'll be forced to do it because you how both of them adore her" Oliver finished.

"Wow dad, that's a genius plan. You know, it might just work" Harlan exclaimed when Oliver had finished.

"But we can't do anything today we've got something to take care of" Chloe said.

"Would that have anything to do with league business?" Harlan asked slyly.

"Yes" Oliver replied "and I've already talked to Victor and you guys will be staying over there while we have the meeting and tomorrow morning we'll come get you. Katherine will keep an eye on you guys".

"O's not going to like that" she replied with a wince.

"Well maybe you can put the first part of the plan into action while you're there?" Oliver suggested and Harlan brightened.

"Yes that's great I'm going to go and plan" she said and she walked in the direction of her room, rubbing her hands manipulatively.

Chloe laughed as she looked at her daughter. "Did you preempt our JL meeting?"

"No" Oliver replied.

"Then how did you know to call Victor and leave the kids with Katherine?" she asked.

"I didn't know I just wanted us to have the house to ourselves so I called and asked Vic for a favor" he said with a wolfish grin.

"Oh really?" she asked slyly and looped her arms around his neck. "Well in that case after we've finished meeting with our band of merry men and women maybe we can put our empty house to good use?" she asked.

"You bad, bad girl" Oliver chided and bent down to kiss her.

* * *

"I don't see why we couldn't just stay at home. I mean we stay at home every time they have a JL meeting anyway" Orion grumbled as he made his way up the steps to the Stone family home. "I would usually jump at the chance to stay with uncle Vic and Aunt Kat but ever since SHE got home I don't think I want to" he said sourly.

"Stop being such a whiner O" Harlan scolded as she changed the placement of baby Carl in her arms.

"Well I'm glad we're going to stay with Uncle Victor. I like baby Naira" Lois piped up shooting her brother an ungracious look".

"I like Uncle Vic and Aunt Kat and baby Naira, its Maya I can't stand" he replied savagely.

"Well I like Maya. She posted me a pretty dress for my birthday even though she couldn't come for my party and she's nice" Lois said shooting her eldest sibling a dirty look.

"Ok guys, your father and I will pick you up tomorrow morning so be good for Aunt Kat ok?" Chloe asked as she kissed each of her children goodbye.

"Alright then Queens we'll see you tomorrow morning" he said as he hugged each of them. "Don't forget the plan" he whispered to his daughters and they nodded their heads in understanding.

"Hey Aunt Chloe" Maya greeted running down the stone steps to hug her godmother, her white cotton dress rippling in the wind.

"Hello darling" Chloe greeted hugging her. "We'll see you tomorrow morning ok? Have fun".

"Oh god, kill me now" Orion groaned as he saw Maya hugging his dad goodbye.

"How long do you think it'll be before Orion calls to beg us to take him home?" Chloe asked as they got into the car.

"Hmmm give him an hour" Oliver replied.

"I say an hour and a half" Chloe said.

"Fifty bucks?" Oliver offered.

"Oh you're on" Chloe said and Oliver laughed as they shook on it.

Things were certainly starting to look up and they could only get better after he saw Dinah tonight.

* * *

"Maya" Lois called shyly as she entered the huge light blue room that belonged to the eighteen year old.

"Yes Lois?" Maya asked "come on in".

"Will you play with me?" She asked shyly putting on her best smile. From behind Maya Harlan grinned at her sister and gave her thumbs up.

"Harlan shall we go play with Lois for a while?" Maya asked Harlan who feigned innocence.

"Yeah that's ok with me" Harlan replied shrugging her shoulders.

"Alright Lois, come on let's go play" Maya said taking Lois by the hand and walking out the room.

* * *

"Orion?" Maya asked looking at the sullen dark haired youth sitting on the sofa.

"No it's the tooth fairy" he replied sarcastically and Maya scowled. She turned to walk out of the room when Lois grabbed Maya's hand with her own little one.

"Please stay Maya, I need you!" Lois whined bringing on her best puppy dog face.

"Oh alright, but only for you" Maya replied kneeling down to tap her finger on Lois's nose.

"Wouldn't ask you to stay for anyone else" Orion replied snidely.

"Why haven't you left then?" Harlan asked looking at her brother curiously.

"Lois made me promise not to leave or she'll tell dad where she found my secret stash of magazines during that Easter egg hunt" he replied grimly.

"Oh, wow. She's good" Harlan replied.

"I know" Orion sighed "a bit too good".

"Ok for this game" Lois announced "I need Maya to go out side and stand behind the door and I need Orrie to stand here in front of the podium".

"What? Why do I have to stand in front of the podium?" Orion asked looking questioningly at his sister.

"Because I said so" she replied firmly.

"Ok Lois where do you want me to stand?" Harlan asked.

"I want you to stand at the door because you'll be walking down the aisle before Maya since you're her best friend" she replied and Orion looked up sharply.

"Wait is this some kind of mock wedding?" he asked looking horrified and Lois nodded. "No wait, so it means I'm getting married to Maya?"

"Yes" Lois replied.

"No, no, no, no this cannot be happening. I can't get married to Maya. Can I get married to Harlan?" he asked Lois who looked at him like he'd gone mad.

"No you silly Willy. You cannot marry Harley, she's your _sister_ and marrying your sister is just icky" she replied with disgust.

"But I can't"-

"If you don't marry Maya I'll tell daddy about those icky magazines under your bed" she threatened and Orion looked defeated.

"Fine I'll do it" he replied sourly.

"Yay!" Lois squealed happily clapping her hands and jumping up and down. "Now I'm going to be the priest that makes you boy and girl".

"I think you mean man and wife" Harlan corrected.

"Yep that's the one" Lois said. "Now Harley you go and tell Maya what's happening and give her this" she said tossing her sister a fake bouquet of flowers and a veil. "Then come back inside".

Lois and Orion waited in silence for Harlan to tell Maya what was happening. Within seconds a loud wailing was heard followed by a few thumps on the door as though Maya was banging her head against the door. A few more seconds passed and the thumping stopped and Harlan came back into the room with a small smile.

"All ready" she told Lois who beamed happily.

"Oh goody goody" Lois said clapping her hands together. She stood in front of the podium and waved her hand at Harlan and Pachbel's Cannon in D came on. Seconds later Harlan came walking down the aisle that Lois had created carrying a bouquet of roses. She stood diagonally opposite Orion and shot him a small smile.

"Sorry we don't have a best man for you Orrie. We actually wanted Carl but I don't think he'd be of much help" Lois told her brother apologetically. The bridal march began to play and the doors opened to one of the most ethereal sights that Orion had seen in his entire life.

Maya clad in her white cotton sundress and the white lacy veil was walking down the aisle with grace. Although her facial expression was hidden by the veil, Orion was sure that she was scowling. She clutched the white bouquet of roses in her hand so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. Was he really that repulsive to get married to?

Maya had come to a standstill beside him and although Orion knew he was staring he couldn't help it. He couldn't take his eyes off her.

"We are here to make Orrie and Maya man and wife" Lois announced then turning to Harlan she whispered "I don't know the rest Harley! What do I do?"

"Just skip to the 'I do' bits" Harlan whispered.

"Oh Okie dokie then" Lois exclaimed. "Do you Maya take Orrie to be your husband?"

"I don't" came the dull answer and Lois glared at her. "Ok fine, fine" Maya replied "I do".

"Goody" Lois said cheerfully clapping her hands. "Do you Orrie take Maya to be your wife?"

"I do" he replied bitterly.

"YAY! Ok then you can now kiss your wife" Lois announced and Orion looked like someone had slapped him.

"WHAT?" Maya protested from beneath her veil. "There's no way I'm doing that".

"Me neither" Orion exclaimed.

"Please Maya? For me?" Lois asked the older girl, her eyes filling with unshed tears.

"Oh alright" Maya sighed giving in to Lois. "But you owe me one"

"Yay thanks Maya, you can't really have a proper wedding if the bride and groom doesn't kiss" she said innocently then looked pointedly at her brother.

"Fine" Orion replied "I'll do it". "But don't expect me to like it" but the protest died in his throat when he lifted the veil. His breath caught in his throat as the sight of her beautiful face albeit set in a scowl but beautiful nonetheless.

He cupped her face with his hands and she lifted her head. With his sisters watching on happily, his lips met hers in a gentle kiss. Her mouth parted slightly and he leant in more. It was unlike any other kiss he had experienced. There was something energetic, seductive and longing in the kiss. But he wasn't sure if it was down to his own imagination or not. One of his hands went to her waist while the other went to her back, pulling her up against him. He felt his spine tingle. This was perfect, it was-

"OUCH" he cried pulling away from her and bringing his fingers to caress his lip. The little minx had bit down on his bottom lip. Hard.

"Sorry" she replied sweetly "you were really getting into it, so I had to stop you".

"What the"- He cried.

"I'd love to stay and chat about how this makes you feel but I have to go. Harlan? Lois? Are you guys coming?" she asked and walked out of the room. He looked on as his sisters shrugged their shoulders sympathetically and followed Maya leaving him alone.

* * *

"So now that we've all gathered, I think you know what we're here to discuss" Chloe announced looking at the assembled league members before her.

"Wait" Oliver put in "Dinah's not here".

"Yeah she said she'd be late but we should start without her" Chloe replied.

"So what's the deal with the kidnappings?" Bart asked munching on a cheeseburger.

"Well we're not exactly sure but we have reports that suggest that the kids kidnapped are all of different ages. Amelia Martin the first child is eight. Michael Rolling the second child is twelve, Zachariah Smith the third child is fourteen and the one kidnapped last night Danielle Brandenburg is ten".

"Where do they get all these children from?" Victor asked.

"The first three were kidnapped at a local carnival. It was a perfect place to swipe three children without anyone noticing and the last child was kidnapped while she was taking out the trash" Chloe replied.

"Wow man, even taking out the trash is a hazard. Dude we gotta do something" AC said.

"Yes we will" a voice answered coming through the door. Oliver looked up as Dinah walked in and sat down beside Bart who was staring at her as though the run rose and set behind her head. He felt his heart contract at the sight of her. She looked the same as he remembered. She was still wearing her black shiny PVC outfit complete with the fishnets and black boots. To be honest, Oliver didn't know how he felt. He didn't know if he was happy to see Dinah or if it hurt him to see the one who made his heart ache.

"Can you tell us what happened last night Dinah?" Chloe asked.

"Well last night Chloe had intercepted a few incoming police files stating that three children had been kidnapped. I'm guessing the children were taken in broad daylight because perhaps the kidnappers knew that the league would be patrolling during the night and their best bet would be in the day".

"So you think they know about us patrolling at night so they decided to do it in the day?" Oliver asked.

"Actually I'm positive that they know about us because last night when I tried to stop them from taking Danielle they had some sort of earpieces in their ear that prevented them from being affected by my powers" she said.

"So you think they know about our powers?" Bart asked.

"Yes most definitely" Dinah replied.

Chloe walked to the computer as a beeping sound was coming from the printer. "This just came in" she said. "Someone in Star City's been importing large quantities of green and red meteor rock from Smallville".

"Do we know if it's Lex?" Victor asked.

"No we're not sure, it's registered under a private company" Chloe replied.

"Ok I want AC and Victor to check out this private company and Bart I want you head back to Smallville. Clark's there so he'll meet you and you'll stake out the location where the meteor rocks are coming from to see if you can get anything" Oliver ordered. "Dinah you and I will patrol the area where the last child was kidnapped. Chloe you'll be here doing your watchtower duties. I'm betting my entire fortune that both the kidnappings and the shipment of meteor rocks are connected somehow".

"Right then everyone you know what to do" Chloe said and with a cheeky grin Bart was off in a _whoosh_. AC and Victor nodded in acknowledgement and they too went off.

"I'll see you later" Oliver told Chloe before he and Dinah walked out of the room.

"I need to hitch a ride" Dinah said as soon as they were out of the room "my bike's being worked on by your daughter".

"Sure" he replied a jolt surging through his chest. Seeing Dinah now made the heartache all the more painful. It was a constant reminder of the fact that he was no longer with the woman he loved. He pushed away his ludicrous thoughts and decided to concentrate on the mission ahead. Even though he'd changed worlds, he hadn't changed morals but many of the moral values that he'd previously held were on the verge of being forgotten when Dinah got on the bike to sit behind him.

Even while he was patrolling he could think of nothing but Dinah and that made him feel like such a hypocrite. Didn't he promise he was going to be a better husband and father? And now here he was ogling another woman. He had a wife and four kids for god's sake. _Don't think about Dinah_ he scolded himself. _Focus on the mission_, _maybe I should make a call to Harlan just to distract myself. I wonder how she's doing with the plan._ He called Harlan using his communicator and pressed a finger to his ear and waited for her to pick up.

"Hello?" came the familiar voice from the other end.

"Hi Harlan I wanted to see how you were doing with the plan. Everything ok?" he asked.

"Oh, hello daddy! Everything's ok I guess. Well we did the mock wedding ceremony that you suggested and we got them to kiss! It was a good result. But then Maya had to go and ruin things by biting down on O's lip and then he got mad and then she got mad and now we're back to square one" she replied with a sigh.

"Hmmm, that doesn't help things at all. They're both too dammed stubborn to admit that they're mad about each other" Oliver said.

"Well O certainly likes her" Harlan replied "he used to write about her in that diary of his every single day, since he was six".

"What?" Oliver asked shocked that his son would do such a thing.

"Yeah, didn't you know?" she asked. "He's been in love with her for longer than he can remember".

"Well even if he is, it doesn't look like he'll admit it any time soon" Oliver replied.

"Which is why we just have to give both of them a little push" he replied. "Anyway Harlan I've got to go Dinah and I are on a mission".

"Oh ok then daddy I'll talk to you tomorrow morning. Tell Aunt Dinah that I'm almost done with her bike ok? And please be careful!" she said with worry evident in her voice.

"Ok Harlan I will" he replied and he was about to end the call when she spoke again.

"Oh daddy?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"I love you" she said and Oliver froze.

"Err…you too" he replied and she hung up. He nearly smacked himself. _You too? That was the best you could come up with?_ He lectured himself. _You could have said something like I love you too Harlan or I love you too darling or something else that doesn't scream WORST FATHER OF THE YEAR! Ok maybe the next time she says something like that you can respond differently._

* * *

After scanning the area and not finding anything Oliver and Dinah decided to head back to the control 'tower' situated in the Queen family mansion's secret basement.

"By the way, Harlan said she's almost done with your bike" Oliver told Dinah as they walked back to where Oliver had parked his bike.

"Good" Dinah said nodding stiffly. "I'm handicapped without that bike especially during patrols".

"Yeah" Oliver nodded unsure of what to say. He still couldn't believe that just the day before yesterday Dinah was tearing his heart to little shreds and now she was on patrol with him.

"Did you ever think about what life would have been like if we'd gotten married?" Dinah asked suddenly breaking his train of thought.

"What?" Oliver asked looking surprised.

"I mean you always said you wanted to get married and settle down and when you proposed to me way back then I wish I'd said yes" she said and Oliver felt even more puzzled. "I was just so caught up in my own little glamorous world I thought that kids would slow us down and they'd prevent me from reaching my goals but I was so stupid".

"Di?"-

"I look at your kids and I think to myself, those could have been our kids. If I could turn back the clock twenty one years ago I would go back to the day that you proposed to me and I'd say yes instead of winding up alone".

"I"-

"I love you Oliver, I've loved you and only you" she replied and stunned him further by turning around and kissing him fully on the lips. Before he could have time to pull away a voice interrupted him on the communicator.

"Ollie? Honey we've got a problem. There's been a break in at Star City's central zoo and you and Dinah can get to it the fastest" Chloe said.

Oliver thanked his stars that the communicator served more like a walkie talkie than a public multi conference line. At least Chloe wouldn't have been able to hear his conversation. He smiled in relief before replying Chloe with a "we're on it".

Dinah and Oliver made their way to the zoo in absolute silence that was getting to be very uncomfortable for Oliver. When they reached the zoo, Oliver was so suffocated by the silence that he decided to speak.

"Look I'm sorry but I have a wife and four kids. If I didn't have them I would consider being with you but I can't betray them. I loved you before Dinah and I probably always will but I've got my family to think about" he finished and waited for her to say something but nothing came. She stared at him blankly and after a while she straightened her back and pushed past him.

"Right" she said firmly "let's check out the break in".

"Where's the break in watchtower?" Oliver asked.

"Its exhibit D in the East side" Chloe replied. "The alarm was triggered by the glass shattering".

"The vampire bat exhibit?" Dinah asked in disbelief as she took in the signboard and the broken glass of the exhibit. "What would anyone want with vampire bats?"

"As crazy as this sounds I think all these incidents are connected somehow" Oliver said. A flash of white caught his eye and bending down to pick it up he noticed it was a piece of paper with a phone number written on it but it was the name above the number that Oliver noticed: LEX.

"Ollie what did you find?" Chloe asked over the communicator.

"Watchtower assemble the others immediately, I have something urgent to discuss with them" he repiled.

* * *

**A/N: Ok first off sorry once again for such a weird ass chapter. I know some of you might not be to happy but I needed to put a lot of stuff in so that it sets the story up. To those who review I'll be rewarding you with a special scene that I've written for this story that I'm not going to post because I have no idea where to fit it in so it'll just be a little cookie that all the reviewers will receive so those who review anonymously please leave your e-mail address if you want me to send you the extra scene. **

_**Next chapter: JL members discuss Lex Luthor. The kids go to school. Oliver tries to help his son and Bruce moves in next door. Not to mention a joint Wayne- Queen charity event.**_


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!!**

**Important Author's note: ****First off let me say a big thank you to those who reviewed. I'm really grateful!! I hope you enjoyed reading the extra scene I sent you to reward you for your review! To all the anonymous reviewers who wanted to read the extra scene: I'm so sorry I wasn't able to send you the cookie because your e-mail addresses didn't show up. However if you reviewed anonymously and still want to read the extra scene please e-mail me at ****and I'll e-mail you back the scene.**

**Chapter 5**

Oliver looked at the assembled league members. Bruce had flown in from Gotham on the bat jet and was seated next to Clark.

"Today while on patrol Dinah and I came across this" Oliver said holding up the crumpled piece of paper.

"Err…you came across trash?" Bart asked earning him a smack on the back of his head from Dinah.

"No Bart, we came across evidence that Lex Luthor might somehow be involved in all of this" Oliver replied.

"So this is like the dude's phone number?" AC asked and Oliver nodded.

"Why don't we call up the number and see if it's still valid?" Bruce suggested and if possible we can trace the number to see who it's registered to.

"Good idea Bruce, AC I want you to place that call please and tell us if it's still valid" Oliver ordered and AC immediately called the number using the control tower's untraceable phone.

"Hello?" AC asked. "Hello? Hellooooo?"

"Well?" Oliver asked when AC had hung up a few seconds later.

"Nothing boss, I thought I heard a kid pick up but it could have been my imagination. Oh I don't know dude but I seriously thought I heard a voice pick up" he said and Oliver looked thoughtful.

"There's no trace on the number, it's a global untraceable number" Chloe said from her position by the laptop.

"Call back again" he ordered and AC looked puzzled.

"Why dude?" he asked.

"Just do it AC and put it on speaker" Oliver said and with a shrug of his shoulders AC dialed the number again.

A few moments later a mechanical voice answered "your call cannot be placed. This number has been disconnected".

"I knew it" Oliver muttered to himself.

"What is it honey?" Chloe asked.

"Lex knows we're after him, why else would he have had the number disconnected. We need to find a way to spy on him without him suspecting" Oliver mused. "But before that I need to double the patrols tonight which means AC and Victor I'm going to get you guys to patrol tonight and tomorrow will be me and Bruce, Alicia and Dinah and then Clark and Bart" Oliver said and both men nodded in understanding.

"Chloe I need you to get some records on the vampire bats that were taken from the zoo. I need to know why someone would want to steal a couple of vampire bats" Oliver said and she nodded.

"Right then I think this meeting is adjourned" he said and the league members dispersed one by one. Oliver watched Dinah walk away and guilt pooled in the pit of his stomach. He felt incredibly guilty over the fact that he'd thought about Dinah even though he was married to Chloe and had four kids. There was only one way for him to redeem himself.

He was about to walk to Chloe when Bruce came up to him. "Hey Ollie can I talk to you for a second?" he asked.

"Yeah sure Bruce what's up?"

"Well Terry will be coming in a couple of days to oversee the moving of the stuff and he'll be staying there for a couple of days so I was wondering if you could just keep an eye on him" he asked.

"Sure no problem, we'll be happy to. Actually Terry can stay with us instead of living in that big house all by himself" Oliver offered and Bruce smiled.

"Thanks that'll be great but he said he'd rather get used to the house and explore it for himself" Bruce replied.

"Is this about Terry?" Chloe asked walking over to Oliver and Bruce. She leant into her husband and put her arm around his waist. Upon reflex Oliver wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah" Bruce replied with a small smile.

"Well in that case then, we can always send food over for him or we could invite him for dinner every now and again. That way he won't be so lonely and he'd have some home cooked meals while he's here at least" she said.

"Yeah" Oliver replied "get Terry to give me a call when he gets here, the twins and I can probably help with the moving".

"Yeah sure, thanks Ollie" Bruce said looking grateful.

"Hey what are friends for?" Oliver asked holding out his hand which Bruce shook happily.

"Anyway guys, I have to go I promised Max I'll be home by dinner and if I hurry I might be able to be. Thank goodness for the time difference" he mused and walked away leaving Chloe and Oliver alone.

"I couldn't find anything on the bats Ollie, they were perfectly normal creatures" Chloe said.

"Then I don't get why someone would want so steal them" he replied.

"Maybe they're bat lovers?" Chloe suggested as she watched Bruce walk away.

"I don't know" Oliver said.

"So" Chloe said when Bruce had left "we have the house to ourselves. The WHOLE house to ourselves. Oh whatever shall we do?" she asked with a dramatic sigh. "Maybe you could take me to our room and have your wicked way with me my hunky green leathered husband?" she suggested and Oliver smiled.

"That sounds oh so tempting and I just might take you up on that offer but first…" he said his face turning serious "we need to talk".

* * *

Orion Jonas Queen couldn't sleep. But he didn't know why he couldn't sleep. It was about three in the morning. He pushed the comforter off his body and placed his feet on the floor. He'd felt warm earlier and decided to discard his shirt leaving him clad in his boxers. Deciding to have a glass of warm milk and chocolate chip cookies, Orion headed to the door. He made his way as silently as possible down the corridor and stopped when he heard a noise coming from downstairs. _Shit there's someone in the house _he thought to himself and grabbing an umbrella from the umbrella stand near the door, he made his way to the kitchen where the faint yellow glow of the light was coming through.

He made his way into the kitchen and was startled to see Maya reaching on her tip toes to get a mug from the cupboard. Placing his umbrella turned weapon down slowly, he folded his arms and leant back to observe her. She was wearing a pair of sleeping shorts and a sweatshirt that rode up as she reached to expose the flat light caramel strip of her lower back. He watched as she gave a frustrated sight and jumped to try and reach the mug and laughed inwardly.

"Dammit mom" she was muttering to herself "stupid fricking mugs on stupid fricking high shelf". Orion walked up behind her while she was still muttering to herself and reaching past her he grabbed the mug off the top shelf. She turned around swiftly and took a sharp intake of breath to Orion's great satisfaction.

"Need this?" he asked with a smirk holding out her favorite mug with a picture of Bruce Lee on it.

"What are you doing here?" she asked furrowing her brows.

"Needed something to drink" he said shrugging his shoulders.

She snatched the mug from him and pushed past him moving to the stove where a little pot of milk was bubbling. She turned off the stove and poured some milk into her mug and Orion watched as she walked to the cupboard and grabbed a box of chocolate chip cookies. She emptied a few cookies onto her plate and sat down at the table munching on one of them. Orion sat down opposite her and stole a cookie from her plate. She glared at him but carried on sipping her milk and eating her cookies.

"So you still drink milk and eat choc chip cookies when you can't sleep eh?" he asked and she made a sound of acknowledgement at the back of her throat.

He sat there for a while watching her while she drank her milk and ate her cookies. Finally unable to take the awkward silence any longer she slammed her mug down on the table and glared at him.

"Ok what the hell are you still doing here?" she asked and he shrugged his shoulders again.

"I told you already I needed something to drink" he replied.

"Well then" she said her voice firm "why the bloody hell haven't you gotten a drink and buggered off?" Her voice went up in volume.

"Maybe I just want to sit here for a while" he said and she gave a frustrated sigh.

"Oh goody for you" she said clapping her hands together in mock happiness "maybe you can sit here and think about what an incredibly big dick you are".

"What the hell?" he exclaimed "why do you have to be such a bitch?"

"I'm a bitch?" She asked incredulously and the laughed bitterly.

"I think you're forgetting _Orion_" she said hissing out his name.

"Just listen to"-

"No you listen" she said heatedly "it was you who told me you never wanted to speak to me again and for four years and six months you didn't. It was you who said I could disappear off the face of this earth and you wouldn't give a shit. It was you who refused to reply to my 337 e-mails for three years until I gave up. It was you who told me never to come near you again and I didn't. You made it seem like going to boarding school was my choice. It wasn't my choice I got a scholarship to go there, it wasn't like I willingly uprooted my life here and left. Since I left for that god dammed boarding school I didn't come back home even once because of you but I'm back now and I'm here to stay. I'm sick of not being able to live my life properly because of you. Uncle Bart, Clark, AC and Bruce had to visit me in secret because of you and not to mention your own parents. I even had to stop talking to Harlan because of you. So don't you dare turn around and call me a bitch because you have no right to" she said her voice laced with anger. She was shaking slightly now and she turned away so quickly that Orion almost didn't see the tears in her eyes. Almost.

"Maya" he called and touched her wrist. "I"-

"Don't" she whispered pulling her wrist away "just don't". He watched on dumbly as she took her mug and plate of cookies and walked out of the kitchen leaving Orion with an empty feeling. After she left, he walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a mug. He then opened the bottom cupboard and took out the half empty box of choc chip cookies. He poured some milk into his mug, he sat at the table munching on choc chip cookies and drinking warm milk while he thought about Maya's outburst.

* * *

"What did you want to talk to me about Ollie?" Chloe asked as she got dressed for bed that night.

"I have something to tell you, I'm not sure how you'll take it but I have to tell you anyway because if I don't it feels like I'm lying to you and you don't deserve that".

"Ok" she said smiling slightly and sat down on the bed.

"Dinah kissed me tonight Chloe" Oliver told her and waited for an outburst from her or a slap or something but nothing came instead she was smiling. "Chloe did you hear what I said? Dinah kissed me".

"Yes I heard you Ollie" she replied but the smile never wavered from her face.

"Then why are you still smiling?" he asked looking confused.

"Because you told me about it and that's what is making me smile. You knew that the outcome could potentially be bad but you still told me anyway. We trust each other Ollie and that's something no one can take away from us. The fact that you're telling me what happened itself makes me happy. She kissed you so I'm assuming that she made the move. I always knew she was a sneaky conniving bitch" Chloe remarked thoughtfully to herself. "I know you told me that you and Dinah had a thing for each other before you and I dated and that things were unresolved when you dumped her but I know I have nothing to worry about, I trust you. Besides remember, if you break my heart you'll have a whole line of people to deal with" she added.

Oliver stood speechless as she got up to embrace him. "How did I get so lucky to have you as my wife?" he remarked "you're too good for me".

"I know" she replied and buried her face in his chest. "Now let's make use of our empty house shall we?" she suggested kissing him on the chest.

He smiled, a true genuine smile full of happiness "now that is a great idea"

* * *

When Orion went down for breakfast it was about nine in the morning and everyone was already seated at the table. He sat at the only available seat at the table which, was opposite Maya.

"Morning everyone" he greeted looking at those gathered around the table. He walked over to Katherine who was carrying new born baby Naira and gave her a hug.

"Morning" came the chorus of voices from around the table with an added "good morning Orrie Worrie" from Lois. Orion noticed however, that Maya was the only one who didn't say anything but instead kept her head down and ate her cereal in silence.

"Did you sleep alright last night O? You looked like you haven't had a wink of sleep" Victor remarked noticing the dark circles under his eyes.

"No I didn't manage to get much sleep" Orion replied.

"That's terrible" Katherine said giving Orion a sympathetic smile. "Maybe you should try drinking warm milk and eating some chocolate chip cookies?" Katherine suggested. You know whenever Maya was little and she had nightmares warm milk and chocolate chip cookies would always help her sleep".

Harlan glanced at Orion and looked like she was about to say something but when her brother shot her a glare she returned her gaze to her breakfast. "Sure Aunt K I'll try that the next time I can't sleep" he replied and placed some pancakes onto his plate, noticing that Maya appeared to have ignored his presence. Apart from little Lois humming the theme song from Sesame Street and the occasional gurgling from baby Carl, there was no other noise in the kitchen.

"So" Victor said laughing nervously trying to break the tension "what's everyone's plan for today?"

"Getting ready for first day of school tomorrow" Maya replied dully.

"Fixing up your car" Harlan said enthusiastically like it was the only thing that ever brought her joy.

"Watching Spongebob!" squealed Lois.

"I don't know? Maybe train for that karate tournament next month?" Orion replied pushing his eggs around his plate.

"Gurgle, gurgle" (that was Carl).

"Ok" Victor replied and watched the three teens push their food around their plates.

* * *

Oliver woke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the smell of Chloe's famous blueberry muffins. Chloe's blueberry muffins were a hot favorite with the league. Even in his normal time period Chloe would make them and he'd have at least six in one go. He stretched his arms and placed them behind his head. Last night they had made full use of their empty house. He grinned to himself, glad that the domestic staff that Chloe had employed were only around in the day. Sitting up in bed he was met with Chloe who was already freshly showered, carrying a breakfast tray laden with Oliver's favorite goodies.

"Morning sleepy head" she teased setting the tray on the bedside table.

"Wow something smells good!" he remarked.

"So what's the plan for the day?" she asked him.

"Well we have to pick up the kids from Victor's right then how about all of us going to get some lunch and ice cream?" he suggested. "Some of Bruce's stuff is meant to come in today so I've got to check up on them".

"Well that sounds good at least we've made full use of our alone time" she whispered climbing on top of him to kiss him, burying her face in his neck.

Oliver closed his eyes and smiled to himself. Who knew that being with Chloe would feel right? And he was now beginning to think that it felt more right than being with Dinah. For some strange reason he couldn't wait to get to Victor's to pick up his kids. He had a strong need to see them. Especially Lois.

"I'm going to have a shower" he said once Chloe had gotten off him.

"Good" she remarked "I'll go call Victor and tell him we'll be there in about half an hour".

"Wait" Oliver said and she stopped in her tracks. "No need to rush, first I should suggest that you have a shower as well. I mean you don't look all that clean and what's better is that we can save time by both going into the shower as well? How about that?" he said.

Chloe looked at him and put her hands on her hips "Oliver Queen as you trying to get me into the shower with you so we can have hot mind blowing sex?" she asked.

"Err…maybe?"

"Well then what are we waiting for? Time's a wasting" she said and began to unbutton her blouse.

"Wow" Oliver remarked to himself "she sure moves fast".

"Ollie" Chloe's voice called from the bathroom "are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming" he replied thinking not for the first time in twenty four hours how lucky he was to have married her.

* * *

Orion stared out the window of the Queen family's SUV. He couldn't seem to get the picture of Maya's tear stained face out of his mind. He felt like the worst possible person on the planet for making her cry because everything that she'd said was right. It was ultimately his fault.

"What's up?" Harlan whispered from her position beside him. "Everything ok?" she asked.

"Not really" he replied truthfully. "I made Maya cry".

"You made Maya cry?" Harlan asked incredulously. "Maya's like the toughest person I know, how the hell did you make her cry?" she asked.

"I sort of asked her why she was being such a bitch?" he said sheepishly running a hand through his collar length hair.

"You what? Gosh O how can you be so insensitive? She was so upset over that fight you guys had four and a half years ago that she never came back and you called _her _the bitch. She sent you hundreds of e-mails"-

"337 e-mails to be exact" Orion corrected.

"Well whatever, she sent you all those e-mails and you didn't reply back to any of them" Harlan replied.

"I was angry and hurt ok? I mean she left us, the three of us were supposed to be buddies, musketeers".

"You mean she left _you_" Harlan replied with a small smile.

"She promised she wouldn't leave" he said "and she left, that's why I was mad".

"Orion you do realize that we were five when we made that promise right?" Harlan asked looking at Orion with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah I know I've been kind of stupid, so now what should I do?" he asked twiddling his thumbs.

"To be honest I don't think she's ready for even a friendship with you, she's still hurt and it's going to take some time for her to recover" Harlan said wisely.

"You're right, I guess it's just better to let things be as they are" he said. "But I have a question".

"What?"

"Why didn't you go and visit Maya when mom and dad went to?" Orion asked looking at his twin. "I know she was as close to you as she was to me".

She shrugged and looked at him seriously "well I know if I went to visit her you wouldn't like it and you come first O. I mean we're twins; we always come first with each other. Maya's my friend but you're my brother and you're more important to me" she said.

"Uh is this the part where we hug?" Orion asked looking comfortable.

"No I don't thing so" she replied furrowing her brows "this is pretty much the extent of our deep and meaningful conversations".

"Ok since we don't hug how about a pat on the back?" he suggested.

"I think a handshake's better" Harlan replied and Orion shrugged shaking her hand.

* * *

"I can't believe you gave me a day off work for this" Victor grumbled as he parked his silver four wheel drive a block away from the twin's school. "Why are we going to see the principal?"

"Because Orion is in love with Maya" Oliver replied simply.

"And she?" Victor asked.

"She loves him too, I believe from what I gather from Harlan".

"So why do we have to see the principal?" Victor asked as they walked in the direction of the school's administrative office.

"Because I have a plan" Oliver said simply "to get our kids together and to make them happy".

"Ok so what's you're big plan?" Victor asked.

"Well at the moment, just talking to the principal" Oliver replied sheepishly as Victor blinked stonily at him.

"What? That's it? You're just doing this on impulse?" he asked and Oliver nodded.

"Well it works for me" Victor said shrugging his shoulders. "Oh look there are the kids" Victor said pushing Oliver behind a tree. The two men watched as Orion got out of the drivers seat of a black BMW and to the great shock of Oliver and Victor, he opened the back door to let out a very emotionless looking Maya.

"Whoa he actually opened the door for her" Victor remarked.

"That's unusual" Oliver said peering out from behind the tree. "He must really like her".

"Well even if he does there's a little problem… that" Victor said pointing to the young blond haired woman who had thrown herself at Orion and was currently trying to locate his tonsils with her tongue. "Ooh that is nasty" Victor remarked in disgust watching the public display being put on by Orion and his blond.

"Oh she must be Stacy" Oliver said looking thoughtful.

"The village bicycle?" Victor asked squinting at her.

"Yep that's her" Oliver said watching as Harlan led Maya away all the time making a very rude gesture behind Stacy's back.

"Err… Ollie I don't know about you but to a person walking by, two grown men behind the tree kind of looks weird if you know what I mean" Victor replied looking around.

"Oh alright come on then, let's go see the principal" Oliver said once the three teens had gone.

* * *

"Orion" Stacy was whining behind Maya and Harlan. "How come I haven't heard from you in three days? You didn't answer my calls and messages" she replied looping her arm through Orion's tightly.

"I was busy" he replied apologetically.

"I missed you Orion" Stacy said leaning into him while in front of them Harlan made a gagging motion.

"Come on Maya let's get your timetable" Harlan said. "Hey O" she called back to her brother "I'm taking Maya to the office to get her timetable".

"Why don't I take Maya" Orion offered "I have to go to the office to drop off my study period form and besides you'll be late for engineering if you take Maya".

"What about me?" Stacy asked.

"Why don't you follow Harlan to her engineering class? Your basic math class is just next door?"

Harlan glared at her brother but seeing his look gave a resigned sigh "come on let's go Stacy. I'll see you at lunch Maya".

When Harlan and Stacy had gone Orion turned to Maya "shall we?" he asked and she shrugged her shoulders and followed him.

"Here's your new time table dear" kind old Mrs. Winter from behind the desk said handing Maya her timetable.

"What do you have first?" Orion asked Maya who was looking over her timetable.

"English Literature with James Keating" she answered dully and Orion brightened.

"That's what I've got, come on I'll take you" he said and she followed him wordlessly.

"Look Maya" he said while they were walking "I'm really sorry, I was hurt and that's why I took it out on you. I was being a real jerk and I know that's not an excuse but I was hoping that maybe we could at least be civil towards each other?" he asked.

"I guess so" she replied "I mean we do have to go to school with each other and we do have to spend a lot of time together since our families are pretty close so I guess it will be the right thing to do, besides fighting with you takes up alot of my energy".

"Good" Orion replied with a smile "so how do you find the school so far?"

"It's alright" she replied monotonously "I'm still getting over the fact that seniors don't have to wear uniforms" she said eyeing her own jeans and red cashmere sweater.

"It's their way of trying to make us feel special" he said trying to lighten the mood.

"So this is class?" she asked as they stopped.

"Yeah it is" he replied. "Shall we go in?" he asked looking at her nervous expression.

Taking a deep breath to soothe her nerves she replied "yeah, let's go in".

Mr. Keating was late as usual but every other person who was meant to be in the class was already seated. Feel uneasy at the number of eyes on her, Maya walked to an empty place in the middle of the class and sat down while Orion sat at his usual seat somewhere at the back corner of the class.

Maya looked around and was shocked to see that including her, there was a grand total of three girls in the class. The rest of the students were made up of boys. Twelve boys and three girls, that meant that the girls were seriously outnumbered. The other two girls in the class were huddled together in the front row and they were looking from Orion to Maya and were whispering.

"That must be Orion's new girlfriend" Girl A was whispering to Girl B.

"It was about time he dumped Stacy anyway, his relationships don't usually last longer than a month. Do you think that when he dumps this one maybe I'll have a chance with him?" Girl B asked her friend.

"Not sure" Girl A replied "I heard he's quite the play boy".

"Looking like that, sure why not?" Girl B replied.

Maya bent her head down and decided to mind her own business when a voice spoke to her from the far end of the class.

"Hey are you the new chick Maya Stone?" a guy asked.

"Yeah" she replied "why?"

"Is your dad Victor Stone, the guy who creates software?"

"Uh yeah?" she replied.

"Your dad's a dick" the guy said savagely, standing up.

"What did you say about my dad?" Maya asked dangerously and she turned around to look up at him.

"You heard me I said your dad's a dick. Because of him my dad's company lost millions of dollars" the guy replied.

"Oh so you must be T.J, the son of that company owner who lost millions of dollars through sending viruses to rival companies. Yeah I heard, it was my dad's software that stopped your dad's company from bankrupting his rival's businesses. I heard he might go to jail" Maya replied coolly.

"Why you"- T.J replied advancing towards Maya.

Orion had stood up by now and was going to Maya's aid when a hand shot out and stopped T.J in his tracks. T.J looked at the owner of the hand and his eyes widened slightly then he turned around and with a glare at Maya, he went back to his seat.

Maya looked at the face of the owner of the hand. He had chocolate colored hair with bangs that fell into his eyes and soul piercing bright blue eyes. He had a cool and calm demeanor that seemed to surround him.

"Alright Class let's begin" called the voice from the front of the class and Maya immediately turned around. "Ah I see we have a new student in our class" Mr. Keating remarked peering at Maya through his spectacles. "You must be Maya Stone". Maya nodded her head. "Welcome, welcome Miss. Stone to English Literature" Mr. Keating announced holding his hands out. Today we will start with reading Twelfth Night by Shakespeare so I'd like you all to open your books to start reading. Miss. Stone if you don't have your book you may go and sit next to Mr. Blaine and share with him".

Maya looked around and the guy who stopped T.J raised his hand and gave a small wave. Maya felt her heart drop to her stomach as she got up and walked over to him.

"Hey" he whispered when Mr. Keating had started class "don't be nervous, I won't bite" he said referring to the distance that Maya was sitting away from him. "Besides if you come closer you can actually see what's written on the book".

She smiled and moved her chair closer to him. She could smell his cologne, it was a masculine yet oddly comforting sort of smell.

"I'm Chase by the way" he whispered not wanting Mr. Keating to catch them talking.

"Maya" she replied back.

"Maya" he said rolling the name off his tongue "that's a unique name". She nodded, still feeling slightly nervous.

Throughout the whole lesson Maya tried to pay attention to the book but she kept feeling someone watching her. Looking up she would catch Orion's eye, he'd offer her a small smile and then he'd go back to the book.

Maya finally relaxed when the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Orion caught up to her as she headed out of the classroom.

"Hey, what do you have next?" he asked.

"Biology" she replied.

"Do you know where the class is?" he asked.

"Erm… not really" she said sheepishly.

"Alright that's ok I could show you if you want" Orion offered and Maya nodded.

"Yes thanks i would really appreciate that" she replied gratefully.

"See that went well didn't it?" Oliver asked as he and Victor got into Victor's SUV.

"No that didn't go well at all" Victor replied glaring at Oliver.

"Of course it did what are you talking about?"

"Thanks to you we're going to be chaperoning Star High School's senior prom" Victor grumbled.

"I think it's a great idea" Oliver replied defensively "I didn't see you coming up with any decent plans?" Oliver shot back.

"That's because I was too busy cursing you for volunteering us" Victor shot back.

"I thought you might be happy Victor" Oliver said "You can keep an eye on your single available daughter" he said.

"You know what? Maybe you're right, volunteering us for chaperones was a great idea" Victor agreed. "Now I'm beginning to see your point, Kat is going to be so pissed at me. She was hoping that when Maya goes for her prom we'd be able to spend some time alone together".

"Well no worries then, I've volunteered Kat and Chloe as chaperones too" Oliver said.

"Well then alls fair, if we have to suffer than they have to suffer too" Victor said cheering slightly.

Although I'm not sure what the kids are going to say they might hate us for the rest of their teenage lives" Oliver mused.

"Just a question Ollie, why are you suddenly trying to get all involved in the kids lives. Not that you weren't before, it's just that now you're overly involved" Victor replied.

"I feel like I don't really know my kids enough Vic, so I'm trying to get to know them a little better. I don't want to regret anything" he said.

"Right then so when's this dance anyway?" Victor asked.

"In two weeks" Oliver replied.

Victor groaned "I don't want to know what the other guys are going to say about this".

* * *

"So how was class?" Harlan asked as Maya sat opposite her during lunch.

"Same old thing" Maya replied with a sigh as she bit into her sandwich. "Just class" she said dully. "Except that some guy named T.J insulted my dad and just as I was about to kick his ass this guy named Chase Blaine stopped him".

Harlan's eyes widened and her jaw dropped "no way" she exclaimed "Chase Blaine? Do you know who he is?" she asked Maya who shook her head.

"Chase Blaine is the son of Star City's mayor" Harlan exclaimed. "He's like one of the hottest and most popular guys in our school. I can't believe he helped you though, that seems unlike him".

"Why?" Maya asked curiously.

"It's just that he's such a mysterious person and he doesn't talk to many people unless he knows them really well".

"Well then how is he popular?" Maya asked.

"Mostly because of his father I think, but it's also because he's incredibly hot and hangs out with other incredibly hot and rich people like that guy next to him. He's Chase's best friend Xander Pritchard. Xander and Chase knew each other as kids and their dad's worked together at one point. Although Xander only came to our school last week because he used to live in Australia before his family moved to Star City. Xander's dad is Dr. Michael Pritchard, the Doctor that was in the papers recently for his stem cell research. Other than that I don't really know much about Xander and Chase because they're so mysterious, but I do know that all the girls like them. Xander's new so he hasn't had time to check out the girls but I'm pretty sure that Chase has never dated anyone from school, weird huh?" Harlan asked.

"Weird indeed" Maya replied looking at a table a little distance away where the object of their conversation sat. Chase looked up at the exact moment and Maya quickly looked back down at her sandwich. "So what class do you have next?" she asked Harlan trying to divert her attention "I have chemistry".

"Well I think I have you in my next class" Harlan replied looking at Maya's timetable. "When you're finished with your sandwich do you want to head there earlier?"

"Yeah sure where's Orion?" Maya asked trying to look indifferent.

"He usually sits with whichever present girlfriend and some of his friends from the martial arts team" Harlan replied.

"Oh I see" Maya said looking over Harlan's shoulder to see Orion and Stacy playing tonsil hockey.

"Come on Maya let's go to class" Harlan said pulling Maya away.

As they walked to their chemistry class they heard a voice call out to them "hey wait up".

Looking back the two girls saw Chase and Xander walking towards them. "Oh my god they're coming towards us" Harlan whispered. "Let's run to class".

"Don't be ridiculous Harley, let's just see what they want" Maya whispered back.

"Hey" Chase and Xander greeted them.

"Err…hi?" Harlan offered.

"Hello" Maya greeted.

"Sorry to bother you but Xander needed to ask you something" Chase said talking to Harlan.

"M-me?" she stuttered.

"Yeah" Xander replied. "I wanted to know what the assignment for this morning's engineering class was" he said sheepishly "I wasn't really paying attention".

"Oh yes engineering class the one that we have together" Harlan said laughing nervously. "Let me get my notes" she said and fumbled in her bag for the notes. She dug into her satchel with such vigor that half her stuff spilt onto the floor including a sanitary pad that she kept for emergencies. Her face turned beet red as Xander calmly handed it back to her.

Meanwhile Maya and Chase were having a conversation of their own. "So today's your first day right?" Chase asked her.

"Yeah" Maya replied.

"How are you finding school so far?" he asked making polite conversation.

"It's not bad" Maya replied.

"Listen, I just wanted to apologize on behalf of T.J for what he did this morning. He had no right to insult your dad like that or call him names".

"It's ok but speaking of this morning I just wanted to say thanks for stopping him" Maya said.

"It's no problem, if you ever need anything don't hesitate to ask me" Chase replied with a smile that would normally melt any other girl's heart but not Maya's.

"Thanks" Maya replied sincerely.

"Are you girls going for chemistry?" Xander asked the girls once he'd finished looking over Harlan's notes on the assignment.

"Yeah we're about to head there now" Maya answered.

"We're heading there too" Chase told Maya "we're all in the same chemistry class" he said gesturing to Xander, Harlan and himself. "So that means you're in our class too".

"Cool" Maya replied.

"We'll walk you" Xander said and he walked beside Harlan.

Chase and Maya fell a little behind Harlan and Xander and were talking amongst themselves.

"So you're thinking of joining the martial arts team? Wow, looks like we'll be team mates then" Chase replied.

"So how many girls are there on the team?" she asked.

"To be honest, if you join you'll be the only girl" Chase replied.

"Oh I don't think I want to then" Maya replied back.

"No please join we need more girls, actually we just need one girl. Besides you'll be with me. We could be training buddies or something" Chase said with a laugh.

"I'll think about it" Maya said thoughtfully.

* * *

Orion was on his way to the physics lab which was right next to the chemistry lab. He was walking with a few of his friends when he saw Maya talking and laughing with Chase Blaine, a fellow martial arts team mate of his. Maya made eye contact with him and smiled at him but her attention was still on Chase. Even after passing the pair, Orion turned his head to keep watching them when all of a sudden he banged into a pillars.

"Orion" he heard a voice exclaim and he felt two cool hands on his cheek. "Are you alright?" It was Maya's voice.

"Y-yeah I'm fine" he groaned putting a hand to his head.

"You should be more careful Orion" a deeper voice belonging to Chase advised.

Orion groaned again as his vision became more focused. He was staring into Maya's concerned face. Concern for him.

"Here buddy let me help you up" Chase said holding out his hand to pull Orion up.

"Thanks" Orion said and rubbed the back of his head.

"I can't believe you didn't see that" Chase said "I mean its right in front of you and you couldn't see it. Next time you should seriously pay attention to what's in front of you" Chase said and Orion glanced at Maya who was standing before him.

"Are you sure you're ok?" she asked with sincere concern.

"Yeah I'm fine" he replied "don't worry" and with a mumbled thanks, he went into his physics class feeling foolish.

* * *

Oliver sat on the sofa of the Queen family's living room that afternoon looking over the files that Chloe had given him. Something didn't quite add up.

"Ollie" Chloe yelled running into the living room. "Something else has happened".

"What happened?" he asked standing up and putting his hands on her shoulders.

Taking a deep breath she said "five male wolves have been taken from the Wilkinson nature reserve".

"Wolves?" Oliver asked looking puzzled. "What the hell would anyone want with wolves? Did you send anyone to check it out?"

"Yeah I sent Bart to check it out" she replied and Oliver smiled at her.

"You're always on top of things aren't you?" he said and she smiled at his double innuendo.

"The double meaning in that is oh so startling" she replied easily and he grinned.

"Maybe for a change tonight I can be on top of things" he replied advancing towards her and she giggled girlishly.

"Yeah right" she whispered as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Oh you bad, bad girl" he whispered huskily and began to kiss her hungrily.

"Can you believe it? Xander and Chase walked us to chemistry and they asked us to sit with them tomorrow for lunch. I just can't believe"- Harlan broke off coming into the living room where her parents were making out heavily. "Oh dear god" she exclaimed and Maya who was standing beside her stopped in her tracks and took in the scene before her with a gaped expression. Orion who had been walking sullenly behind the girls looked thoroughly disgusted with his parent's antics.

"Oh for the love of my eyesight" Orion exclaimed smacking a hand to his forehead.

"Would you please make our next sibling in the privacy of your room?" Harlan asked glaring at her parents.

"Oh err…" Chloe stammered flushing a deep shade of pink "we didn't know you'd be back so early".

"It's a good thing we came back early if not we'd have come back while you were half way making the next addition to the Queen family and then we'd all have to get corrective eye surgery" Harlan replied with narrowing her eyes.

"How was school Maya?" Oliver asked changing the subject hastily.

"It was great I loved it" Maya replied giving Oliver a hug.

"Yeah and she already caught the eye of a boy at school" Harlan called out teasingly. Upon hearing that Oliver shot his son an 'I told you so' look in regards to the little father- son talk that they had the other night and Orion merely scowled and turned away.

"Oh really? Who?" Chloe asked looking interested.

"Chase Blaine" Harlan replied with a smirk.

"Chase? Oh my god, he's Mayor James Blaine's son isn't he? And is his mother Amelia Blaine" Chloe asked.

"Yeah why?" Harlan asked.

"His mum and I worked together a couple of years ago" Chloe replied "I think I've met Chase once before, he's a nice boy".

Maya smiled broadly and Orion rolled his eyes. "Well I'm not the only one, Xander Pritchard was eyeing up Harlan".

"Oh he's the son of Dr. Michael Pritchard isn't he? They just moved here didn't they? I had to interview Dr. Pritchard. I've seen what Xander looks like and he's good looking" Chloe replied with a cheeky smile and Harlan turned pink.

"What's this all about?" Oliver asked jumping halfway into the conversation "who's good looking?"

"This guy who likes Harlan" Maya replied for her friend and Harlan turned an even darker shade of pink.

"What?" Oliver asked "I don't like the sound of this Xander" he said narrowing his eyes.

"Dad" Harlan said laughing off her father's remark "you don't even know Xander".

"Yeah well, I still don't like him" Oliver replied looking rather haughty.

"Oh come here you big baby and leave the kids alone" Chloe laughed while pulling her husband away from Harlan.

"Thanks mom" Harlan said looking grateful.

"But I wasn't done yet" Oliver was heard protesting as he was being led away by his wife. "Chloe she needs to know that men can be dangerous".

"Well if you're not done I can always let you go back there and you can terrorize your daughter some more instead of coming back to the bedroom with me" Chloe said huskily.

"No I'm done" Oliver replied quickly then pulling his wife he said "come on lets go".

* * *

"Well I'd better get going" Maya said once Oliver and Chloe had left. "Thanks for letting me park here and for giving me a ride to school" she said turning to Orion when she delivered the last part of her sentence.

"No problem" he replied with a small smile. "Hey why don't you"-

"Maya? Mayaaaaa" Lois squealed as she ran down the stairs and threw herself at the older girl.

"Hey Lo how was your day" Maya asked picking Lois up and carrying her.

"Not bad I guess" Lois replied "although that new tutor that mommy and daddy hired for me is a real dummy".

"How do you mean?" Maya asked and Harlan rolled her eyes.

"He treats me like I'm two" Lois replied folding her arms and looking annoyed.

"Wow he really is a dummy" Maya agreed sympathetically and Lois beamed at her.

"Thank you for being so understanding Maya, I wish you were my sister or at least my sister in law" Lois said innocently glancing in the direction of her older brother.

Harlan snorted with laughter as Maya made a choking noise in the back of her throat and Orion watched on suspiciously, having not heard Lois's comment.

"I really have to go now" Maya said setting Lois down and straightening up.

"No, stay please!" Lois begged "I want you to stay" she whined.

"I can't I have to go home I've got"-

"Homework?" Orion offered "well I know for a fact that for the three classes you have with me you don't have any homework". He praised himself inwardly for making an effort with Maya. He had thought about it a lot and he realized that he really didn't want to be on bad terms with her.

"And we don't have that chemistry paper due till next week" Harlan said "so it means you can stay for a bit at least".

"Oh ok fine" Maya said looking resigned. "Just for a little while" she replied.

"Great, come on" Harlan called and pulled Maya away with her.

* * *

Orion had decided to take a break while doing his history assignment and so he went downstairs to grab a bite to eat.

"Hey what's going on here?" he asked noticing the split bag of flour on the floor and butter and chocolate all over the table.

"Maya, Lois and I have embarked on a cookie making frenzy" Harlan said proudly and Orion looked at her pointedly.

"Well it's more Maya and Lois's idea, you know me O, I'm not much for the baking" she replied with a grin.

"Don't remind me" Orion muttered "the last time I ate something you made; I ended up with food poisoning for a week".

"Well it was only one time" Harlan replied defensively.

"What about the other time when you made those brownies for dad's birthday even Uncle Bart didn't want to eat them and he eats everything. Remember? You put salt in it instead of sugar and dad couldn't eat a thing after he tasted your brownie" Orion replied with a smirk.

"In my defense, dad was already full"

"Well then what about the time when you"-

"Ok, ok I get your point" Harlan said sourly.

"So where are Maya and Lois?"

"They went to clean up, Lois wasn't too happy when the flour bag she was carrying split and ended up all over her favorite dress" Harlan replied. Seconds later Lois's voice could be heard followed by Maya's as they made their way into the kitchen.

"Thank you for helping me Maya" Lois said as she held the older girl's hand as they walked into the kitchen.

"It's so hard getting all the flour off" Maya groaned looking at Harlan. Maya looked at Orion briefly as if to acknowledge his presence. Orion smiled at her, an action that neither Harlan nor Lois failed to notice.

"Wait a second you have a smudge of flour on your face" Orion said and leaning closer to her he licked his thumb and wiped off the smear of flour from the side of her mouth. Her eyes went wide and she stiffened under his touch. "There, nothing left" he said cheerfully and was oblivious to the fact that Lois, Harlan and Maya were staring at him like he had six eyes.

"Err…thanks" Maya replied still blinking at Orion.

"Alright then, enjoy baking your cookies I've got to get back to work" he said grabbing an apple and heading up to his room.

"That was strange" Harlan remarked. "Just a couple of days ago, you guys were at each other's throats and now he's wiping the flour off your face. I mean what the hell just happened?" she asked and Lois looked at her quizzically.

"Don't ask me" she replied then holding up five fingers she said "I'm only five".

"Err…" Maya stuttered unable to say anything else.

"Maya?" Harlan called waving a hand in front of her face "yoo hoo? MAYA".

"Oh sorry I zoned out there" Maya replied feeling slightly foolish.

"We can see" Lois put in helpfully. "Were you thinking about Orrie?" she asked cheekily.

"No I was just thinking about something else" Maya said quickly. "Anyway let's just bake the cookies" she said trying to change the subject.

"Fine suit yourself" Harlan replied with a small smirk on her face.

"Can we make cookies for Orrie?" Lois asked "he really likes the chocolate chip ones" she added. "Please Maya?"

"Ok fine" Maya replied back dully. "Now you sieve the flour and Harlan you beat the eggs…"

* * *

"Hey Orion, do you want to follow me? I'm going to go to Bruce's new house to meet his son. Terry needs some help moving the stuff" Oliver said as he went into his son's room.

"Sure dad, I don't mind" he said shrugging his shoulders.

"Good because Maya and Harlan are busy in the kitchen with Lois so it'll just be you and me?"

"Yeah sure dad I don't mind" Orion replied.

"Ok good get your jacket we're leaving now" Oliver said and Orion grabbed his leather jacket from his chair and followed his father out the door.

"So" Oliver said as they drove to Bruce's new house "I take it I was right then?"

"Right?" Orion asked questioningly.

"Yeah I was right about Maya, according to Harlan someone likes her already and she's only been in school a day" Oliver replied with a superior sort of attitude.

"So what are you trying to say dad?" Orion asked.

"I'm saying son that you'd better get a move on" Oliver exclaimed. "Hurry up and do something about Maya before someone else does".

"Dad" Orion said seriously, looking at his father "I'm with Stacy remember?"

"Oh yes the village bicycle I forgot about her" he said and Orion rolled his eyes.

"Is that what everyone thinks of her?" he asked looking quite offended.

"Everyone thinks of Stacy as the village bicycle you mean?" Oliver asked and Orion nodded. "Err…pretty much" Oliver replied.

"She's not really like that you know dad" Orion said "Stacy's actually a very nice chick".

"Yeah I'm sure" Oliver snorted "but I'm willing to bet she's got no personality or brains and what she lacks for in those departments she makes up for with her chest and butt".

Orion looked slightly miffed "what kind of guy do you take me for dad?" he asked but he didn't look at his father when he said that.

Oliver snorted loudly "you know something son, you remind me of me when I was your age. Superficial, stubborn and I had really bad taste in women. Sure they were all beautiful but they were all as dumb as a door knob".

Orion blinked twice at his father and then decided to turn and look outside the window. "This is Uncle Bruce's new place?" he asked when Oliver pulled his car up into the driveway of what led to a huge mansion.

"Yeah" Oliver replied nodding his head.

"Whoa, Uncle Bruce has a nice place" Orion replied giving a low whistle then upon seeing the look on his father's face he quickly added "not as nice as ours though".

"That must be Terry" Oliver remarked pointing to a black haired youth who was dressed in blue jeans and a white t-shirt, ordering around the movers.

"Hi, Terry?" Oliver asked walking up to the young man.

"Hi Uncle Ollie, wow you look the same" Terry exclaimed shaking Oliver's hand. "Oh hey Orion right? I remember you although it's been absolute ages since I last saw you".

Orion compared himself with Terry for a while. They were roughly the same build, lean, well chiseled and toned. Although Terry was a little more tanned in skin tone compared to Orion. He was about and inch shorter to Orion's great satisfaction although he was two years older but there was something in the other guy's eyes that suggested that he'd seen things way before his time. Terry had shaggy black hair that was tastefully messy unlike Orion's intended spikes. He had an earring in his left ear and a tattoo of a Celtic cross on his upper arm towards his shoulder with the words R.I.P Rachel Wayne tattooed below. He looked like someone that Orion would be friends with and Orion decided that based upon first impressions, he quite liked Terry. The guy seemed nice enough.

"So can we give you a hand?" Orion asked looking around at the stuff.

"Yeah sure that would be great" Terry replied.

About an hour later when the movers had all gone, Terry was showing Oliver and Orion around the house.

"Oh Uncle Ollie I forgot to tell you" Terry said while showing the two Queen men around the second floor of the mansion "Dad's coming over next week and he's throwing a charity gala in honor of the merger between Wayne corporation and Queen Industries. It's going to be a charity event supporting those with hepatitis C and Cirrhosis. He says that it will be held at hotel Star eyed" Terry said.

"Wow that was fast" Oliver remarked.

"Yeah dad's already planned it all and he's even sent out the invitations already" Terry replied.

"Yeah sure it's no problem, tell Bruce I'll help out with whatever he needs" Oliver said as he and Orion made their way outside in the general direction of their car. They were about to turn around and walk back to their car when a familiar black SUV pulled up in the driveway. Orion's jaw dropped as Maya stepped out of the SUV carrying a plastic container.

"Maya?" Orion asked "what are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting Terry" she replied simply and after a quick greeting to her godfather she proceeded to hug Terry and give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Maya" Terry greeted with a grin.

"So you've finally moved in huh?" she asked and he nodded. "Well I brought you a little housewarming gift" she said and handed him the container.

"Yeah!" Terry cheered "your famous chocolate chip cookies. Maya you're the best" and kissed her on the cheek again.

"I know" Maya replied with mock pride.

"Wait" Orion said interrupting them "how do you two even know each other?"

"Well I went to Gotham on exchange last year and I stayed with Uncle Bruce, that's how I met Terry" Maya replied looking at Terry with such fondness that it made Orion go green inside.

"Yeah and I used to go visit Maya every now and again at her boarding school" Terry replied ruffling Maya's hair fondly.

She groaned and shoved him for messing up her hair but she was grinning nonetheless. Orion was watching Maya carefully_. I don't get it_ Orion thought to himself_ first Chase and now Terry?_

"Shall we go?" Oliver asked his son and Orion nodded, his eyes still transfixed on Maya and Terry.

Oliver chuckled to himself as he watched Orion. His son was exactly the splitting image of him. It was obvious to everyone but Orion that the boy was obviously smitten with Maya.

"What are you thinking about?" Oliver asked his son as they drove back home.

"I'm thinking about"-

"Maya?" Oliver interrupted

"What? What makes you think i'm thinking about Maya" Orion asked.

"You have this look on your face every time you watch her or think about her. It's quite obvious really" Oliver replied with a grin.

"You make it seem like I'm in love with Maya" Orion grumbled.

"Are you?" Oliver asked and Orion choked.

"What the hell? No of course not" he replied back in defiance.

"If you say so" Oliver replied back casually.

"Dad" Orion said seriously "I am_ not_ in love with Maya".

"Keep telling yourself that and it might actually come true" Oliver replied to his scowling son.

When Orion got home the first thing that hit his senses was the delicious smell of home baked chocolate chip cookies. He raced to the kitchen praying that there was some left over but to his dismay he saw two empty trays on the counter top. With a scowl he dragged his feet up to his room and placed his jacket on his chair. He was about to walk away when something on his table caught his eye. It was a plastic container like the one Maya had given Terry and it was filled with cookies. On the container was a piece of paper stuck on with sticky tape. **FOR ORION **it said **From Maya :)**

* * *

Oliver couldn't sleep that night and he wasn't sure why. He had come back from patrol about two hours ago and was now lying restlessly in bed next to a slumbering Chloe. He was thinking about how much he'd changed in the past couple of days. He found it strange and yet oddly comforting that he no longer felt the pain and heartache when he thought of Dinah. Instead he felt numb; it was like something had healed him. Or rather someone had healed him. He turned on his side and watched Chloe sleep. Her face was bathed in the moonlight making her glow. He reached out to stroke her hair gently. In his normal lifetime, he would never have thought about a future with Chloe Sullivan but now he couldn't seem to imagine a future without her or without the kids.

"Can't sleep?" Chloe asked sleepily without opening her eyes. She snuggled closer into him and he put an arm around her.

"Not really" he replied honestly.

She opened her eyes to look at him in concern "what's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about things I guess" he replied.

"Anything serious? Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No it's ok" Oliver replied. "It's nothing serious, just wondering about the missing kids".

"I know" Chloe replied "I can't imagine what their parents are going through, it must be so tough. Can you imagine how you'd feel if it was one of our kids being kidnapped? I can't" she said.

Oliver thought for a while trying to imagine how he'd feel and he realized he couldn't. Things just didn't seem complete without the kids. Especially Lois, he'd become especially fond of her. He got out of bed and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Chloe asked.

"To check on Lois" he replied and Chloe smiled.

Oliver headed in the direction of Lois's room. He saw a faint orange glow of light coming from beneath her door but when he approached the door the glow had gone and the room was dark. He entered Lois's room and found her sleeping soundly cuddled up with her beloved Batty the bat.

"Lois?" he called out "are you awake". She didn't answer. _Hmmm that's strange_ he thought to himself._ I could have sworn that Lois's night light was on just a couple of seconds ago._ "Lois" he called out again "I have a surprise for you".

"A surprise? Ooh what sort of surprise" She asked springing up from her bed and turning on her night light.

Oliver raised an eyebrow and stared at the excited and suddenly very awake little girl who was looking at Oliver with great interest. "So just as I came to check on you, you turned off the lamp. What are you doing up so late?" Oliver asked and Lois looked guiltily at him.

"Sorry daddy, but I couldn't sleep so I decided to play with my dollies" she replied.

"Why couldn't you sleep?" he asked sitting on the edge of her bed.

"I had a nightmare again" she replied.

"You want to talk about it?" Oliver asked her as she leant back against the mountain of pillows that surrounded her.

"Well, ok" she replied. "Well I dreamt that I was in the toy store picking out a nice new toy for myself when this big bad meanie man grabbed me and picked me up and took me away from you" she replied, her eyes growing wide and afraid.

"Why didn't you come to me" Oliver asked.

"I already called you the last time there were monsters in the closet and I didn't want to call you now because then you might think I'm still a baby when I'm not" she replied indignantly. "I'm a big girl".

"I know you are Lois, you're not a baby" he replied.

"Really?" Lois asked "So you think I'm grown up? Do you daddy?" she asked and Oliver didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't think she was grown up.

"Yes of course I think you're grown up" he replied instead. "Now let's see what we can do about the big bad meanie man who wants to kidnap you shall we?" Oliver asked and Lois nodded eagerly.

"Well first you have to kick them in the knees like this" Oliver said demonstrating with an imaginary man. "Then next you kick them in the nuts like this" Oliver replied demonstrating yet again and Lois giggled. "Ok?" Oliver asked and she nodded.

"I know daddy" she replied "I can do it".

"Alright then now move over and give me some room" Oliver said getting into bed beside her. She giggled as Oliver used his bottom to nudge her further away. He then turned off the night lamp that Lois had turned on earlier. "Goodnight Lois" Oliver said.

"Goodnight daddy" she replied. Oliver smiled contentedly and closed his eyes trying to relax. He heard Lois's breathing become steady and he lay there with her in a comfortable silence. He was just drifting off to sleep when suddenly he heard her voice.

"Daddy?" she asked.

"Hmm?" he replied back sleepily.

"Do I still get my surprise?" she asked.

"We'll see" he replied.

* * *

When Oliver woke the next day, it was about seven in the morning Lois was still sleeping so he crawled carefully out of bed. He didn't want to wake her since she'd had a disturbed sleep the night before. After brushing his teeth and having his shower, he went down for his morning coffee. Chloe had gone in the shower after him. He was surprised to see Orion's unspiked head resting on the table and beside his face was a half full mug of milk and a plate with two chocolate chip cookies left on it.

"Orion?" Oliver called gently shaking the sleeping teen. His son stirred slightly but didn't wake up. "Orion" Oliver called shaking him even more.

"Mmmm milk and cookies" Orion said sleepily and Oliver raised an eyebrow.

"Milk and cookies?" Oliver asked.

"Maya milk and cookies" Orion mumbled sleepily.

"Maya milk and cookies?" Oliver asked as he sat down on the chair next to Orion looking interested.

"Maya milk and cookies mmmm taste good" Orion said puckering his lips.

"Okay" Oliver said as he looked at his son weirdly.

"Love my milk and cookies" Orion whispered still in a sleepy state. "Love my…Maya" he breathed turning his face to rest his other cheek on the table.

"Love your what?" Oliver asked trying to get his son to repeat what he'd said.

"Whales" Orion said and Oliver looked miffed.

"Whales?" Oliver asked incredulously. "Fool" he remarked to himself "he's talking rubbish in his sleep. Ok that's it, I'm going to wake him up if it's the last thing I do" Oliver told himself as he walked over to the sink and filled a glass with water. Walking back slowly to his son Oliver overturned the glass and emptied the water all over Orion.

Spluttering and cursing Orion woke with a start and glared at his father. "What the hell did you do that for?" he asked angrily.

"You will be late for school if you don't hurry up" Oliver replied simply and Orion jumped from the chair and ran upstairs nearly knocking down Lois who was coming prissily down the stairs.

"Some people don't see what's right in front of them" she exclaimed to her father looking irritated.

"You got that right" Oliver replied watching his son hurry up the stairs.

* * *

**One week later**

"So we know for a fact that Lex Luthor is involved with the kidnappings?" Oliver asked Clark who'd come to visit.

"Well not exactly" Clark replied "we know for a fact that he's involved somehow with the stolen animals and he's been shipping in large quantities of meteor rocks from museums and various places around the world. So is there any news on the kidnapped kids?"

"Not really. There hasn't been a kidnapping since the last one, about a week ago and since then there's no news. This is the first time I've felt like I've failed. I've let these kids down".

"No Oliver. Don't beat yourself up over it. We'll find them" Clark replied

"Thanks Clark, I appreciate you stopping by" Oliver said and with a nod, Clark was gone in the blink of an eye.

Something had to be done. There had to be a way that Oliver could find those kids that had been taken. He just hoped he was not too late. One week had passed already and there was no improvement with their mission. In regards to his relationship with Chloe however, he gotten significantly close to her and he liked the fact that he was able to tell her a lot of things that he normally wouldn't tell anyone. It was like she understood him. This world was getting so good that Oliver didn't think he wanted to go back to his normal time anymore. He was beginning to hope that he might stay here…forever.

**A/N:** Hello there so I hope you found this chapter satisfactory and I hope you all read it. To those that review once again you will be getting the extra special scene that I have written specially for my loyal reviewers. For the anonymous reviewers please put your e-mail in your review itself and I will send you the extra scene. Or if you don't want to do that then please e-mail me at because the last time the e-mail didn't show up in the box.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: ****I OWN NOTHING!! **

**Author's Note: **I just want to say thanks for all the support I've been getting! I'm really pleased! To all anonymous reviewers I AM SO SORRY!! Unfortunately none of your e-mail addresses showed up with your review. So if you want to read the two extra scenes I've sent you please, please e-mail me at

**Chapter 6**

"Are ya ready kids? Aye, aye Captain! I can't hear you. AYE, AYE Captain!"

Oliver thought he was hallucinating for a moment. Why someone calling him a kid? And who was answering? Who's captain?

"OH…who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" Oliver immediately let out a groan. "SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!"

"What time is it?" he asked no one in particular.

"Its five thirty in the morning daddy" came the reply from his youngest daughter.

"Five thirty in the morning?" he asked incredulously. "Lois, what on earth are you doing up so early? Don't you have a TV in your room?" he asked.

"Yeah I do but I like watching TV with you daddy and I always wake up this early" she replied sweetly.

"Well then can you turn that racket down? Some people are trying to sleep?" he said firmly.

"Ooh I can tell you're going to be Mr. Grumpy pants today" Lois said clicking her tongue and shaking her head.

"What did you just call me?" Oliver asked.

"I called you Mr. Grumpy pants" she replied firmly.

"Oh no you didn't" he said with mock rage.

"Yes I did" she replied back.

"Well then, you're going down" he said and he grabbed her and tickled her mercilessly.

"Stop daddy, oh stop, stop, stop" she cried giggling loudly.

"Never" he said laughing maniacally.

"Stop and I promise I won't call you Mr. Grumpy pants" she gasped as tears steamed down her face from laughing too hard.

"Promise?" he asked and she nodded her head. "Ok then, you're free" he said and she sat up when he'd let her go.

"Phe-ewww daddy" Lois exclaimed suddenly as she pinched her nose with her fingers.

"What?" Oliver exclaimed.

"You're stinky daddy, you need to brush your teeth and have a shower" she said.

Oliver got out of bed and laughing he threw a pillow at his daughter before heading off to the bathroom to clean up.

"Hey" she squealed "that wasn't very nice daddy".

"I know" he replied peeking his head out from the bathroom and then with a chuckle, he shut the door.

* * *

Orion Jonas Queen stared up at his black ceiling dotted with glow in the dark stars and decided since he couldn't sleep; he might as well get up. On the opposite end of the room, Harlan was snoring peacefully. Orion got up carefully and decided to make his way to the range.

When the Queens had decided to make Queen Mansion their permanent home, Oliver had spruced up the place and had added an archery range. Orion loved the archery range. It gave him an adrenaline rush every time he so much as held the solid wooden bow in his hands. When he was younger, Oliver had taught both him and Harlan how to use a bow and arrow. It was mostly due to Harlan's persistent badgering that Oliver decided to teach them but it was Orion who'd taken up the art with such gusto. As they grew older the twins took their own separate paths with regards to their interests. Harlan moved on to engineering and anything mechanical related, even coming up with inventions of her own while Orion grew attracted to martial arts, yoga and of course his first love; archery.

Orion wasn't sure how long he'd been practicing, maybe hours, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was the pressure of the bowstring against his lips and the cool surface of the wooden bow against his palm.

"Orion? Son it's five forty five in the morning what on earth are you doing up?"

He watched as his father turned on the lights. Orion flinched at the sudden brightness; he usually practiced in the dark. It felt better that way. The element of mystery combined with the depth of the unknown was greatly appealing to Orion and so since the day that he'd had his archery epiphany, when he was thirteen years old, he'd been practicing in the dark. He'd wanted to challenge himself, and practicing in the dark was pretty much as challenging as it could get.

"Hi dad" he greeted his father.

"Son" Oliver said walking towards him wearing his favorite green robe with his sash tied loosely at the waist. "Seriously, what are you doing up? I mean school doesn't start till nine and"- Oliver trailed off noticing the round target with dozens of arrows shot through.

"You did that?" he asked his son looking awed and impressed.

"Err…yea?" Orion said hesitantly. Oliver had always warned him and Harlan not to practice in the archery range unless he or Chloe was around.

"Wow that's incredible; I didn't know you were so good. Wait a second, were you practicing in the dark?" he asked and Orion nodded cautiously. "Are you serious?" Oliver asked.

"Yes, why?" Orion asked.

"That's amazing Orion, even I didn't start practicing in the dark till I was twenty two" Orion's father remarked.

"Actually dad, I've been practicing in the dark since I was thirteen".

"What? Why didn't you say anything?" Oliver asked.

"Well every time I wanted to tell you, you always had a meeting to rush off to or some league business to take care off. Why do you think I wanted to join the league? It's because I know I'm ready. I've been training in martial arts my whole life dad; I've done meditation, yoga and even gymnastics. I know I'm ready but you'd never understand. It's not just me dad, Harlan's ready too. You still treat me like I'm a little ten year old and I don't think there's anyway I can prove to you I'm not".

"Actually there might be a way" Oliver replied as he smiled at his son.

An hour later, Oliver sat at the kitchen counter top with a mug of coffee in his hands. Orion was seated next to him munching on a piece of toast.

"Well that was a workout" Orion told his father.

"You did well O, with time you'll soon be better than even me" Oliver remarked.

"No way dad you're always going to be the best" Orion said.

"So now would you like to tell me what you were doing up so early?" Oliver asked peering at his son.

"I couldn't sleep" he remarked casually.

"Couldn't sleep? Son you're looking like a Panda on a bad day, something's obviously been bothering you".

"It feels like I've got a lot of things to get off my chest but I don't know what they are" Orion replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I feel like I have this huge weight on my chest but I don't know how to get it off. I don't even know what it is. It's like something's eating me up inside but the only thing is I don't know what it is" he replied truthfully.

"How long has this been going on?" Oliver asked looking in concern at his son.

"About a week or so" Orion replied. "It's like I'll try to go to sleep but I'll wake up an hour later and I won't be able to go back to sleep after that" he replied.

"Have you tried sleeping pills?" Oliver asked "I could talk to Dr. Greenberg and get him to prescribe you something".

"Yeah I've already tried sleeping pills but when I take the sleeping pills I feel like I'm in some kind of nightmare until the pills wear off" he replied. "So far archery's the only thing that helps me relax apart from warm milk and chocolate chip cookies".

"Well from what I hear I think that the only way that you'll be able to sleep properly again is if you find out what's bothering you and do something about it" Oliver said.

"Yeah I know, so dad after seeing what I can do, do you think I could join the league?" he asked his father.

"Well I'll have to think about it but there's a definite possibility" his father replied with a grin.

* * *

Oliver walked along the corridor to his office and was greeted with a chorus of "good morning sir" and "good morning Mr. Queen" but he wasn't concentrating on what they were saying. He had more important things to think about. Firstly he was worried about his son. Orion's insomnia was obviously more serious than he let on. He was beginning to see the toll it was taking on his son. The paler than usual skin complexion and the dark circles that surrounded his eyes. After that came the kidnapped children. He wondered if they were alright and hoped to god that they were still alive. Next he was worried about Harlan. His daughter's obvious fixation with this Xander boy was beginning to worry Oliver. He'd never pictured Harlan as one who'd go nuts over a boy but it seemed like this Xander kid was really something, she wouldn't shut up about him.

He made his way to his office and sat down at his desk. The paper work in his 'IN' tray looked even less appealing than it normally did. Oliver put his head down on his desk and closed his eyes. His head soon began to pound and a white hot pain sliced through his cranium. _Shit its happening again_ he thought to himself.He hadn't had any of these flash back episodes for a week and all of a sudden, it was happening again. His vision faded and this time he was staring at a version of himself. _'The real Ollie' _he thought to himself _'the one whose life I've taken over'. Ollie the' family man'_ he had come to Christian his doppelganger who's life he was now living.

_Ollie the family man was standing in the living room of Queen Mansion talking on the phone when voices were heard in the next room talking loudly and animatedly with one another._

"_Yeah alright Victor I'll talk to him. Definitely, I'll get to the bottom of this. Sure I'll see what's up. Alright then I'll talk to you later, Bye"._

"_But O, you know that wasn't a very nice thing to say to Maya" five year old Harlan was telling off her brother._

"_I didn't say anything bad" Orion argued pompously._

"_Yes you did" Harlan accused "you said that Maya had cooties"._

"_But all girls have cooties except you because you're my twin and if you have cooties than I have cooties too" he said as a matter of fact. "And I obviously don't have cooties"._

"_You made Maya cry" Harlan scolded. "No one can make Maya cry except you! She has been nothing but nice to you. She even shared her chocolate chip cookies with you today and than you had to go and say she had cooties. I'm telling daddy"._

_Running to their father, Harlan hugged on to his middle. "Daddy" she whined "O was a bad boy today"._

"_What did he do sweetheart" Oliver asked gently as he knelt down to be level with his daughter._

"_Orion told Maya that she had cooties" Harlan ratted out._

"_You're a squealer" her brother said irritably._

"_Is that true Orion?" Oliver asked his son in his 'parent voice'._

"_Uh…yes? But that's only because Mitch Rosen said that all girls had cooties and if we touched them then we'd have cooties too" Orion said his eyes shining with spirit and wonder._

_Oliver chuckled "no that's not true" he replied. "There's no such thing as cooties. If it was true than I would have gotten cooties from your mom a long time ago but I'm still fine" he said holding his hands out as if to say 'taa daa'. _

"_So girls don't have cooties then?" Orion asked his father._

"_Nope, not at all" Oliver replied and Orion furrowed his tiny eyebrows._

"_See I told you so" Harlan remarked with her hands on her hips sounding very much like her mother._

"_Dad I need a favor" Orion said and his father looked at him curiously._

"_What do you need son?" he asked and Orion tip toed to whisper into his father's ear the secret favor that he needed while his twin looked on curiously and suspiciously._

_The scene then changed to the familiar setting of the Stone House. Orion, Oliver and Harlan stood at the front door of Victor's place and waited for the door to be opened._

"_Ollie?" Victor asked looking surprised at the impromptu visit from Oliver and his children._

"_Sorry to bother you Victor but Orion needed to talk to Maya" Oliver replied with a sheepish smile._

"_Sure, sure come on in" Victor said and opened the door wider to let the Queens in._

"_Sorry to bother you Uncle Vic but I needed to talk to my woman" Orion said and looked around in earnest for the object of his affections._

"_Daddy I"- Maya trailed off when she noticed Orion standing there with his sister and father._

"_Hello" Orion said shyly._

"_Hi" Maya replied back._

"_These are for you" he said handing her the white roses that he'd rebelliously picked from his mother's prized rose garden._

"_Thank you" she replied back bashfully._

"_Maya I wanted to say I'm sorry, I should not have said you had cooties. I was not being very nice can we be friends again?" he asked._

"_Ok" Maya replied with a nod of her head._

"_Yay!" Orion exclaimed. "You always forgive me Maya"._

"_Oh brother" Harlan muttered and rolled her eyes._

"_That's cause I like you too much" she replied back then handing her father the roses she dragged Orion and Harlan off to play._

"_Come on Ollie, let's go out front I want to show you the new engine that I got installed for my bike" he replied and Oliver followed him out the door._

"_Did you actually come here because your son needed to apologize to a fellow five year old?" Victor asked Oliver when they were outside._

"_Yeah pretty much" Oliver replied with a grin._

"_Dude you'd pretty much win father of the year I reckon" Victor replied. They were standing on the front lawn of Victor's house where his bike was parked. He'd taken it out for a test drive about fifteen minutes ago and had left it on the lawn to cool off. Victor's street wasn't very crowded since there were only about five or so other houses in total on that street. One of his neighbors old Mrs. Smith who was walking her Chihuahua gave Victor a dirty look as she passed._

"_Hi Mrs. Smith" Victor called waving a palm clasped around the white roses that his daughter had handed to him. Mrs. Smith, kindly old Mrs. Smith who always waved and greeted the Stones now gave a very puzzled Victor a dirty look and walked on briskly with Ricky the long haired Chihuahua. "What the?-" Victor asked looking at the old woman's retreating back. "Why'd she snub me?"_

"_Maybe cause of this?" Oliver suggested holding up Victor's hand and gesturing to the roses with his eyes. "She probably thought you were gay, that maybe we were a couple"._

"_That's ridiculous" Victor said shrugging off that ludicrous thought._

"_Oh really, just watch" Oliver said. "I could say something totally innocent to you and she'd still think we were gay" Oliver remarked._

"_She's coming back this way" Victor said._

"_Ok let's try this" Oliver said and when old Mrs. Smith walked past with Ricky the long haired Chihuahua, Oliver angled his body so that it faced Victor. "Don't you like the roses Vic?" he asked and using his peripherals he saw Mrs. Smith's eyes widen in horror. She stopped in front of the two men._

"_Shame on you" she scolded Victor wagging a shriveled finger in his direction. "Married to a lovely woman with a beautiful daughter and you're frolicking around with him?" She glared at Oliver dangerously "and you" she said narrowing her eyes at him "you should know better than to go and seduce a married man home wrecker" and with a disgusted snort, she took Ricky the long haired Chihuahua's leash and headed back up the road to her house._

_When old Mrs. Smith had gone, Oliver burst out into loud snorts of laughter while Victor stood frozen to the spot. "See, what did I tell you?" Oliver asked chortling._

"_Oh shit" he exclaimed "the old cow really does think I'm gay doesn't she? And all because of these god dammed flowers" he said chucking the flowers to the ground._

"_Dude I don't get why you're complaining, I'm the ideal man to be gay with. I'm Oliver Queen bro, you should be so lucky" Oliver said with a cheerful grin._

"_Ha Ha" Victor said sarcastically "aren't you a funny guy"._

"_Come on let's go inside" Oliver said with a laugh._

_When they went inside they were greeted by Katherine, Victor's wife. "So what did you guys get up to?" she asked._

"_Well" Victor replied sullenly "I was supposed to be showing Ollie my modified bike but we were totally distracted and I didn't end up showing Ollie the bike"._

"_Oh really?" Katherine asked "why were you guys distracted?"_

"_Mrs. Smith from number two thinks I'm gay" Victor replied solemnly._

"_Oh" Katherine replied, her mouth forming a large 'O'._

"_Yeah and what's worse is that she thinks Ollie is my…you know" he said uneasily._

"_OH" she said in understanding and then she began to laugh. She threw back her blond head and laughed so hard that tears streamed down from her blue eyes._

"_It's not funny" Victor scolded._

"_No darling of course not" she replied seriously. "It's HILARIOUS" she exclaimed and roared with laughter._

"_Mommy what's happening?" Maya asked coming into the living room with Orion and Harlan by her side._

"_Oh nothing dear" her mother said "one day when you're older I'll tell you"._

"_Oh ok mommy, by the way daddy, where are the roses that Orion gave me?" she asked and Victor's eyes widened. _

"_Oh shit" he exclaimed._

Oliver's vision began to fade. Ollie the family man, Victor, Katherine and the kids began to fade and blend into what he now recognized at the surroundings of his office. He didn't understand what he was supposed to be learning from these so called visions. Was there a moral or a lesson behind all of it? He wasn't so sure but something told him that these visions were the key to the door that led back to his original life, where he was Ollie the man that got dumped by Dinah instead of Ollie the family man.

* * *

Orion walked along the corridors of his school. Classes were finished for the day and many of the students were already heading home. Orion headed to the main entrance of the school where he saw some of the senior students crowding around a pink and red booth.

"GET YOUR TICKETS! LAST CHANCE TO COME AND GET YOUR TICKETS FOR STAR HIGH'S SENIOR DANCE! TODAY'S THE LAST DAY WE'LL BE SELLING TICKETS SO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE ALL GOT THEM" a girl was yelling from behind the booth. To be honest the dance was next week but Orion had totally forgotten all about getting his tickets. In fact he wasn't even sure if he wanted to go in the first place. He was about to walk away when he heard a familiar voice.

"Nah, I'm not sure if I'll go". It was Maya and she was talking to Chase Blaine.

"Why not?" Chase was asking her, standing just a little closer than Orion would have liked.

"I don't really know anyone and besides I don't have anyone to go with" she said. This was true. She didn't really know many people in school having only been there for a week but many people in school knew her. She was the daughter of a brilliant software creator, she was beautiful and she was the girl that Chase Blaine obviously fancied (although Maya had absolutely no idea of Chase Blaine's affections towards her).

"Well then that makes two of us" Chase replied "since you don't have anyone to go with and I don't have anyone to go with, why don't we go together?" he asked.

"Err… I don't know" she replied uncertainly.

"Come on Maya, it could be fun. Besides do you really want to miss out on your senior dance?" he asked

"I guess not" she replied "alright then I'll go with you".

"Good, I'll have two tickets" Chase said turning to the girl behind the booth.

It was then that Orion Jonas Queen had a change of heart and he himself decided that he would go to the dance too. "I'll have two tickets" he said to the girl behind the booth who looked at him attentively. I mean could you blame her? First the incredible Chase Blaine showed up at her booth and right after him came the incredibly hot and sexy Orion Queen. She was having a field day.

Orion watched as Chase and Maya walked side by side to the car park. Their shoulder just inches apart. Orion jogged up to them. "Hey Maya" he said "I'm giving you a ride home remember?" he asked. "Oh hey Chase" he said casually and the other boy greeted him back with a 'hey'.

"Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me I almost forgot" she replied "I've been looking for Harlan. Have you seen her? She wasn't in the last class that we have together".

"She went home early" Orion said "she wasn't feeling well".

"Oh, is she ok? Do you know?" Maya asked in concern.

"Yeah she's fine now" Orion replied. "Come on then, let's get going" he said.

"Looks like I've got to go now Chase I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah sure" he replied and Orion and Maya walked back to Orion's black seven series BMW.

"Do you want me to drop you at your house? Or did you park your car at mine?" Orion asked her when they'd got into the car.

"I parked my car at yours" she said.

"Ok sure" he replied and they slunk back into silence for the journey back to the Queen mansion. Thankfully, the ride to the Queen mansion was a short one and the silence didn't last for more than five minutes.

Maya thanked Orion for the lift and she began heading in the direction of her black SUV when the double doors to the entrance of the Queen mansion opened and Harlan came bounding outside.

"Hello Maya" she greeted cheerfully.

"Harlan, where were you? You weren't in Chemistry" Maya said "are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm perfectly fine; I wanted to skip my last class which was geography so I called in sick. Uncle Clark picked me up" she said. And by picked her up she meant that Clark physically picked her up and super sped her home.

"You cheeky devil" Maya scolded cheerfully.

"So are you heading home?" Harlan asked.

"Yeah, oh and thanks for the lift by the way" Maya said turning to Orion to thank him.

"It's no problem Maya, you're always welcome" Orion replied.

"Well stay and hang out for a bit" Harlan coaxed "it's so boring here and Lois is watching Sesame Street so I have nothing to do".

"Yeah sure" Maya replied.

"Hey did you end up trying for the swim team?" Harlan asked. "I know I was supposed to try out with you but I really needed to bail from geography, sorry" she said.

"Nah it's cool I chickened out anyway, don't think swimming is really for me" Maya replied as she recalled the whole martial arts team seated in the stands, Orion included.

"Anyway guys, I'm going to go upstairs to do some homework see you all later" Orion replied and he went upstairs.

* * *

Oliver stood in the huge boutique with the rest of the gang, AC, Victor, Bart, Clark and Bruce.

"So what should I do?" Oliver asked.

He had been saddled with the unfortunate task of picking out Harlan's dress for the senior dance. Not by Harlan, no, his precious daughter would never give him such an unfortunate task. Instead it had been his wife's idea. Chloe had insisted that Oliver get Harlan's dress so that he could prove to his daughter that he was perfectly apt in picking out an eye popping dress. So he did the only thing he could that might possibly help him. He called in the cavalry.

"I don't have any daughters but I think this is when you pick out the dress" Bruce remarked.

"What about this one boss man?" Bart asked holding up a low cut, backless, short and clingy, almost transparent little pink dress.

"I want her to have a good time in the dress Bart, not be raped" Oliver remarked and Bart shrugged.

"Oh sorry boss man, I was just trying to help" Bart said. "But isn't being raped having a good time too?" he turned to whisper to AC.

"Only to you dude" AC replied back "but that's cause you've not been getting any action for a while".

"She's going with that Xander fool and I just want to be careful when choosing the dress, I don't want him to get excited if you know what I mean" Oliver said.

"Dude have you even seen this Xander man?" AC asked.

"No" Oliver replied and then seeing the look on his friends faces hastily carried on "but that's besides the point. I don't have to see him to know he's a bad guy".

"Ollie aren't you jumping to conclusions here? I mean I know she's your precious daughter and all that but aren't you going a little too far?" Clark asked.

"No" Oliver replied indignantly.

"Well what about this one dude?" AC asked holding up a sea green dress with tassels.

"Nah, I don't think that's Harlan's kind of style" Oliver remarked.

"But dude, it's made from recycled materials" AC exclaimed.

"No AC, I don't care if it's made from bubble wrap we're not getting it for Harlan" Oliver said.

"Ok how about this one?" Clark suggested holding up a blue and red cocktail dress.

"Nah don't think so" Oliver replied.

"This one?" Victor suggested holding up a silver dress with a fur hood attached to it.

"Nope".

"How about this?" Bruce suggested holding up an exotic looking black dress with sequins.

"Nope, Bruce she's going to a dance not a funeral" Oliver replied.

"This?" Bart suggested holding up a dress with sequins and fur.

"Err…no way! The combination of sequins and fur is revolting" Clark piped up.

"Dude what about the rack over there?" AC suggested.

"I think I've got it" Oliver exclaimed as he browsed through the rack and he held up a blood red dress made of stiff silk. It was a strapless dress that was tight at the bodice and flared out at the hips. There were diamantes all around the bodice, accentuating the fitting bodice.

"Wow now that is more like it" Clark replied.

"I can just imagine how gorgeous Harlan will look in that" Bart replied. "That color will look so good with her natural skin tone".

The rest of the league stared at him. "What?" he asked "it would".

"Oh-Kay" Bruce exclaimed. "I see shopping brings out your feminine side".

"Just because some people don't have good taste doesn't mean they have to be jealous of those that do" Bart muttered sourly to Clark.

"That's a good choice Ollie" Victor remarked.

"So are we all happy with the choice?" Oliver asked his friends.

They chorused with a 'yes', 'definitely', 'awesome', 'rocking choice dude' and 'she'll love it'.

"Good" Oliver replied feeling satisfied. "Anyway Victor" Oliver asked his friend after he'd paid for the dress. "Did you get Maya's dress?" he asked and Victor gave a satisfied smirk.

"Yeah, Kat and I came here last week to get it. Even though she said she wasn't going to go we thought we'd might as well get it anyway. She doesn't know yet though" Victor said.

"Good, we did well today guys" Oliver announced to his band of merry men as they walked out of the boutique. He was feeling extremely proud of himself.

* * *

Orion was doing some homework for his Physics class and deciding to take a break he walked downstairs and out to the back garden where he supposed the girls were. He stood looking out through the tinted glass sliding doors, not wanting to be seen. Harlan had already jumped into the pool and little Lois was cannon balling into the shallow end. Maya was still in her jeans and t-shirt from that day.

"Come on Maya" Harlan was calling trying to get her friend into the pool.

"I don't really want to" Maya called back "I didn't really bring my bathers".

"Don't lie" Harlan called back "I know you're wearing your lucky light blue bathers underneath your t-shirt just in case we were going to try out for the swim team".

Maya sighed looking defeated "yes but I'm not sure that I want to get into the pool I'm feeling a bit self conscious…"

"Come on Maya" Lois called.

"Ok fine" Maya replied giving in to Lois. Then looking around to make sure that no one was about, she took off her t-shirt. Orion's mouth went dry at the sight of her bare back only marred by the strip of blue at the back and he felt himself harden when Maya slipped out of her jeans.

"Oh my god" Orion muttered to himself. "I'm going nuts. This is Maya for god's sake. I mean sure when I was a kid I fancied her but I mean things are different now, we're teens".

"Come here Lois" Maya said splashing about in the pool "didn't you want me to throw you across to the other side of the pool?"

"Yay!" Lois squealed splashing about in her Disney princess bathing suit. "You're not throwing me high enough" Lois complained when Maya hurled her across the pool. It was then that Orion decided that he should help out. He ran back upstairs and quickly pulled on his board shorts and ran back down again.

"Mind if I join you?" Orion asked standing at the edge of the pool clad in his board shorts.

"Err…" Maya stammered staring at his bare, well chiseled, well toned chest and she suddenly felt incredibly self conscious.

"YAY ORRIE!" Lois yelled.

"I've got to go" Maya said and she hastily tried to get out of the pool trying to cover as much of herself as she could with her hands. Orion walked over to her just as she got out of the pool.

"Do I make you feel uncomfortable Maya?" he asked standing in front of her.

"No- no it's just that I have to go now, I need to get home" she replied.

"Maya" he whispered his body just centimeters away from hers "don't leave because of me. In a way I've already made you leave once before and you didn't come back for four and a half years. Don't leave again" he whispered taking a step towards her and she took a step back slipping on the edge of the pool and falling backwards. She hit her head on the side railing on the pool and fell, back first into the deep end.

"Maya?" Orion called "Are you ok?" but Maya didn't come to the surface.

"Come on Maya, don't play games" Harlan said with a grin thinking that Maya was trying to trick them but Maya remained at the bottom of the pool.

"I don't think she's playing games" Orion said. "Shit" he cursed.

"Maya" Harlan yelled and began to swim towards her friend but Orion got to Maya first.

Diving into the pool he swam to the bottom and brought Maya to the surface.

"Get dad now" Orion shouted and Harlan raced to get her father.

"Is Maya going to be alright" Lois asked him, her voice teary.

"Yes she will be" Orion replied confidently as he placed Maya on the ground. Listening to her heartbeat he pressed both his hands on her heart and began to do CPR. "Come on Maya" he urged before blowing air into her mouth. "You can do this come on".

He signed in relief when Maya began to cough out water, taking deep gasping breaths. "You're alright" Orion said soothingly as he wrapped her in a large beach towel. He rubbed her back gently to help calm her down.

Harlan came rushing out followed by Oliver "is she ok?" Harlan asked in concern.

"Yeah she's fine" Orion said "just exhausted and she has a nasty bump on the head and a twisted ankle from the awkward position in which she fell".

"Maya, thank god you're alright" Oliver exclaimed getting to his knees to look at his goddaughter.

"The doctor's on his way" Harlan said getting off her cell phone.

"I'm fine" Maya rasped her throat still sore from coughing out water.

"Yeah well we still need to get you checked out" Oliver said and he held his hands out to help Maya stand up but Orion already beat him to it.

"Ah" Maya cried falling back down as she unconsciously leaned on her twisted ankle.

"I got you" Orion said and he picked up Maya, carrying her as a groom would a bride.

"Take her upstairs while I call Victor" Oliver told his son. Orion nodded and carried Maya up to the room he shared with his twin. He headed straight to his black leather couch and gently laid Maya on it.

"I've got your stuff Maya" Harlan said coming into the room. "O, can you leave for a bit while I help Maya get dressed?"

"Yeah sure" Orion replied and grabbing some clothes and a towel he headed off to one of the other numerous bathrooms in the Queen mansion to have a shower.

About forty five minutes later he went back to his room to find Maya seated on his black leather couch already showered and changed, being checked up by Dr. Greenberg the league's appointed doctor.

"Well Maya, looks like you're fine. You just need to sleep and rest that ankle" he said pointing to her newly bandaged ankle. Oliver and Harlan followed Dr. Greenberg out the door. Harlan gave Orion a small sly smile and Orion rolled his eyes.

"Hey" Orion called walking towards the couch.

"Hi" Maya greeted back.

"You look better" he remarked noticing that some color had returned to her face.

"It's all thanks to the mug of warm milk and cookies that you sent Miss Lena up with. Thanks".

"No problem" he replied "Miss Lena had a little fight with me. She insisted that you'd be better off with her stew but I told her that nothing made you feel better like a mug of warm milk and chocolate chip cookies" he said and she laughed.

"Poor Miss Lena, she must think I don't like her cooking" Maya said with a smile.

"Nah don't worry about her" Orion said then turning serious he cleared his throat. "Look Maya I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable earlier it's just that"-

"No it's not you, it's me" she said "I guess it was quite weird for me adjusting to this whole 'being friends' thing. I've gone from not speaking to you in four and half years to seeing you everyday" she replied.

"I know" Orion said looking down. "Look if it's too much for you then"-

"I don't mind seeing you everyday it's just that I got a little freaked out. I keep forgetting that we're not enemies anymore. It's so stupid I know".

"Look Maya I know that it was my fault in the first place that we stopped talking but I'm going to try and make it up to you. I want things to go back to as they were, like when we were kids".

"I'd like that" Maya replied with a smile.

"Good I know I"-

Orion was cut off by a loud 'WHOOMP THERE IT IS! WHOOMP THERE IT IS'.

"Sorry" Maya apologized "it's my ring tone just give me a sec" she told Orion and answered her phone.

"Hello? Oh hi Chase, no it's not a bad time. Sure go ahead. Yeah I'd like that what time and when? Ok sure no problem. Tomorrow? Sounds great see you tomorrow then" she said and hung up with a giddy smile on her face.

"Chase?" Orion asked trying to look indifferent.

"Yeah" Maya replied.

"Hey Maya" Harlan exclaimed excitedly as she came into the room. "Guess what?"

"Let me guess" Maya said pretending to look thoughtful. "Xander just called you and asked you to go to the movies with him tomorrow night?"

"Yeah" Harlan replied excitedly. "How do you know?"

"Because Chase just called me and asked me the exact same thing" Maya replied with a grin.

"Oh snap" Harlan exclaimed "oh my god, it's going to be a double date! Yes! Yes! Yes!" she yelled and jumped around. Orion looked at the two girls and the smile on Maya's face and he felt his chest tighten. "Oh yeah I forgot" Harlan said when she'd stopped jumping "Dad's going to drive you home so he sent me to come up and get your stuff".

Harlan helped Maya gather her stuff and Maya stood up but lost balance and fell back down on the couch. "Here let me help you" Orion said and he placed his left arm around Maya's waist and her right arm around his shoulder.

"Thanks" she replied smiling at him. "I've got to get myself a pair of crutches".

They made their way downstairs where Oliver was talking on the phone.

"Sure I can be there as soon as I drop Maya off give me about half an hour. Yes, thanks bye".

"Dad" Orion said as soon as Oliver had gotten off the phone "I can drop Maya it's no problem".

"Ok then" Oliver replied feeling secretly happy that Orion and Maya might get some alone time.

"Alright then let's get going" Harlan announced.

"Oh Harlan, you can stay here with me I need your help with something" Oliver said and Harlan looked puzzled.

"What do you need my help with dad" Harlan asked and Oliver shot her a look.

"Something" he said gesturing to Maya and Orion with his eyes.

"Oh! Oh yes, I need to help you with something" Harlan replied getting his meaning.

"See you guys later" Oliver said.

"Yeah go, go bye! Shoo" Harlan said practically pushing them out the door.

* * *

Maya sat in the front passenger seat while Orion drove the black BMW. "So you're going out with Chase huh?" Orion asked casually.

"Sort of, I'm not sure I mean he asked me to go to the dance with him as friends but I don't know we'll have to see how it goes" she replied.

"You must really like him to go out with him after a week" he said and Maya shrugged her shoulders. "From what I remember you didn't trust people so easily back then".

"He's a nice guy" she replied and he nodded his head in understanding. "So how's Stacy" she asked.

"I'm not quite sure I broke up with her a couple of hours ago" he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"So who's the next lucky girl?" Maya asked and he shrugged his shoulders.

"No one yet" he replied.

"So do you like anyone?" she asked "maybe Harlan and I can play matchmaker and set you up with someone" she teased.

"Nah not really" he replied.

"Oh we're home" she exclaimed as the car pulled up into the driveway of the Stone house.

"Do you need any help?" he asked her and she shook her head "I should be fine" she replied.

"Ok"

"You know O, I really missed talking to you" she said. "I'm glad we're friends again".

"So am I" he replied with a grin.

"And I just want to say thanks for helping me today, I really appreciate it" she said and then leaning over she hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. With a friendly smile, she got out of the car and hobbled to the front door.

Orion brought a hand up to his cheek. He could still imagine her warm breath on his cheek and the smell of her shampoo lingered around him. He wasn't sure how long he stayed that way for but after a long time he looked at the Stone house and something clicked in his brain and his heart.

"I think I know who I like" he said to an empty car. The name escaped his lips in a soft whisper as though if he spoke it the world would come crumbling down around him: "Maya".

"It's you Maya" he said to an empty car. "Shit what is wrong with you Orion?" he scolded himself. "You're falling for Maya, the girl whom you've known practically all your life. You shouldn't be doing this" he scolded. "God what is WRONG with you?" he asked himself again banging his hands on the steering wheel.

* * *

Oliver walked around the house a little. Orion still hadn't come home; perhaps he was still at the Stone house. Harlan had driven to the store to get a new part for her car, she wanted to 'pimp her ride'. Lois had been whisked away by her Uncle Clark because Martha wanted to spend some time with the girl she treated like a grandchild. Lois loved her 'grammie Martha'. Well she was practically like a mother to Chloe so it was only fitting that Martha adopted the kids to be her grandchildren. Carl was doing what babies often did and that was sleeping. Oliver didn't understand how Carl could sleep so much but Chloe explained that it was because they needed the sleep to grow. Oliver of course hadn't understood that at all. So what, they were like plants now?

He'd been wandering around aimlessly for a while, exploring the house a little but had now decided to lounge around on the couch. There was nothing else to do. It was kind of boring without the kids. He literally jumped up from the couch he was sitting on when he heard the double doors to the queen mansion open.

"Hello"- Chloe began but was cut off by him scooping her up in his arms and twirling her around. "Ollie" she shrieked as her briefcase went flying.

"Hello" he said huskily, cutting her off with a kiss.

"Wow" she exclaimed when they'd pulled apart. "What has gotten into you?"

"It's so boring without the kids. Lois is with Martha, Clark and big Lois, Orion is with Maya and the Stones I think and Harlan is at the store and might be going to Bruce's later" he replied. "And I was bored and you came at the right time to keep me company".

"Well that's too bad" she replied with a cheeky grin "because I have work to do". She picked up her fallen briefcase.

"It can wait" he replied and took the briefcase from her and chucked it to the side.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" she asked stepping towards him.

"Because I'm not sure what time the kids will be back. Clark does have a habit of showing up unannounced" he said and leant in for a kiss. Then scooping her up he carried her upstairs to the bedroom.

* * *

Orion put the car into drive was about to drive off when something silvery on the front passenger seat caught his eye. It was Maya's bracelet. It was the charm bracelet that he and Harlan had given her for her thirteenth birthday. It was the last thing that Orion had given Maya. He turned off the engine of his BMW and picking up the bracelet he got out of the car and made his way to the front door.

It didn't take Maya long to answer the door. "Hi" he said.

She looked mildly surprised "hi" she greeted back.

"I came to give you this, you left it in the car" he replied holding out her bracelet.

"My bracelet" she exclaimed "thanks".

"You're welcome" he replied and turned around to walk away when she called out to him.

"Hey do you want to come in for a while? I mean no one's home except for me but we can still hang if you want?" she asked.

"Sure" he replied "I have nothing else to do". This in fact was a lie because Orion actually had a whole stack of physics homework due the next day but he figured hanging out with Maya would be a lot more enjoyable than his homework. Therefore, he lied.

"Cool" she said giving him a heart wrenching smile.

"So where's everyone?" Orion asked as he shut the front door behind him.

"Well mom, dad and Naira have gone to visit my grandparents. Mom's side of the family hasn't seen Naira yet and Miss. Maria (the housekeeper) is watching some stupid soap opera in her room".

"Oh ok" he replied.

"Is your favorite still apple soda?" she asked.

"Yeah" he replied and she tossed him a can of apple soda. "Thanks. You still like grape?" he asked and she grinned while helping herself to a can of grape soda.

"Yep, I sure do" she replied.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked.

"Well I was going to watch a movie" she replied sheepishly.

"Well let's watch a movie then" he said "I don't mind".

"Oh but wait first. I forgot to give you something. I've been carrying them around with me for years, literally" she said and then she disappeared upstairs for a bit. A few minutes later she came back down carrying in her hand a huge black duffle bag.

"Err…wow" he replied looking at the bag.

"Don't look so worried" she replied "it's not like I've got a dead body in there".

"I got you this for your fourteenth birthday but I didn't want to mail it to you just in case you sent it back and I couldn't have handled that kind of rejection" she said and held out a sloppily wrapped brown package.

He took the package from her and unwrapped a framed picture of Maya, Harlan and himself. They were about seven years old and they were all on the swings at a park. "Thanks Maya" he replied with great sincerity.

"This one is one that I got you on your fifteenth birthday" she said and handed him a snow globe. "It reminded me of your home" she said "and it made me think of you, so wherever you are, it will serve as a reminder of your home".

"Thanks Maya, it's awesome" he replied shaking the snow globe with a mansion and mini snow man in the middle.

"Ok you have to forgive me the first two gifts were a little bit childish because I picked them out when I was younger but I hope you like the last three".

"Hey" he said touching her arm "I liked the gifts ok?"

"This one is one I got for you on your sixteenth birthday" she said handing him a small black package. He unwrapped it to reveal a set of black leather gloves "it's for your archery" she said.

"Thanks Maya, it's just what I needed" he replied and flashed her a smile.

She smiled at him "this" she said taking out a thin, long newspaper wrapped package "is your seventeenth birthday present.

He tore the wrapping open and was surprised. It was an arrow. A beautiful and obviously hand crafted arrow. "Maya this is….wow" he said looking at the arrow and examining it with great care.

"I crafted it myself look at the back" she said.

With a puzzled expression he looked at the back and noticed an engraving. "Dear Orion, for you on your seventeenth birthday. Love Maya" he read and she smiled once again. It was that beautiful heart wrenching smile. "Maya it's incredible" he said.

"The last one" she said "goes along with the arrow. It's your eighteenth birthday present".

She handed him the duffle bag. "What is it?" he asked.

"See for yourself" she replied.

He unzipped the duffle bag and inside it was the most beautiful black bow he'd ever seen. It was a metallic black bow and holding it up, it was lighter than he expected. "This is the best gift I've ever received" he exclaimed.

"Your mum said you still practiced once in a while and I thought that this might motivate you a little more" she replied.

"Oh it will" he said. "You can bet on it".

"There's also an inscription on the bow" she replied "Terry had to help me with that though. I had to do a couple of favors for him but it was worth it" she added with a laugh. "It's a quote from the bible. I'm not religious or anything and nor do I practice any religion but that quote stuck out to me when I came across it. It reminded me of you". He looked at the inscription and then back at her

_**Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bends his **__**bow**__** to shoot his arrows, let them be cut in pieces.**_

_**Love, Maya**_

Orion looked at her "favors?" he asked. "What kind of favors did you do for Terry?"

"Oh you know, the usual favors" she replied.

"Such as?"

"Shining his shoes, babysitting his brothers, making him breakfast, making him lunch, making him dinner and picking out his clothes for him before he goes to work" she replied.

"Sorry but may I ask you a question?" Orion asked.

"Sure go ahead" she replied.

"So what's the relationship between you and Terry?" he asked.

"There is no relationship with me and Terry" Maya replied. "There was once but we're just friends now, things are better off this way" she added.

Orion relaxed his shoulders a little. "Thanks Maya, I really appreciate all this" he said "I don't have anything for you though" he said.

"That's ok" she replied.

"No it's not" he exclaimed "you know what I'm going to get you something for every birthday of yours that I missed".

"You don't have to" she said.

"I want to" he replied. "So what movie do you want to watch?" he asked.

"Well just pick whichever one you want" she said. "I'm not too fussy".

"Ok" Orion replied and proceeded to the Stone DVD collection to pick out something. "What about this?" he asked holding out the DVD of Robin Hood men in tights.

"Sure, I'll just go change into something comfortable and get some popcorn" she replied.

He waited for a few minutes and she back hobbled to the living room and sat on the couch. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top and was holding a bowl of popcorn. "All ready?" she asked.

"Yeah all ready" he said and gulped at the fact that her long, light caramel toned legs were exposed. He sat down beside her and she grinned at him passing him the bowl of popcorn.

"By the way dad called, he, mum and Naira will only be back tomorrow morning. My grandma wanted them to stay so they're going to spend the night there" she said.

"Oh ok" he replied.

They sat in that comfortable silence watching the comedy, with her chuckling occasionally. About three quarters into the movie, Maya had fallen asleep. Orion moved closer to her and placed her head on his shoulder. Her head had been in an awkward position before and Orion was scared that she might get a stiff neck. She stirred and burrowed herself into his side. He placed a protective arm around her shoulders and drew her in closer.

* * *

"Hello? Uncle Bruce?" Harlan called as she stepped into the Wayne mansion. "Uh is anyone at home?"

"Hi, can I help you?" a voice asked and she turned around to see a young black haired guy staring back at her.

"Uh yeah I need to talk to Uncle Bruce, I have a new part for his batmobile that needs to be fixed" she replied.

"Sorry, he's not in at the moment, I'm his son Terry. You must be Harlan, he said to just make your self comfortable and go on ahead and fix the batmobile" he replied.

"Actually people usually call me Harley. Do you know what time he'll be back?" she asked and he shrugged.

"Not sure, he's doing some snooping around with regards to a league mission" Terry replied. "But come on I'll show you to the cave".

"Thanks" Harlan replied and she awkwardly followed Terry down to the cave. To be honest if she'd known that there was going to be someone else here too then she would have made more of an effort with herself. She looked down at her grease splattered jeans and t-shirt, her leather jacket and high top sneakers in distaste. What must Terry think of her? Even her hair was in a mess. Usually when she went to school she made herself look more presentable now that she and Xander were going out. Xander was a wonderful guy and just thinking about him made her stomach flutter.

"So this is it" Terry exclaimed when they'd reached the cave. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn't even see which way they'd come through.

"Whoa" she exclaimed "pretty impressive. I've never seen the batcave before; every time Uncle Bruce needed something done to the batmobile he usually brings it over to ours".

Terry grinned "well here's the batmobile, do you mind if I just hang around here? I've kind of got some work to do"

"Suit yourself" she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

They sat in silence, she doing her work and he doing his work. "You know" Terry said breaking the silence after a while "I've never actually met a girl who's more mechanically inclined than a boy before".

"Well you have now, and don't make it sound like us girls are good for nothing" she replied sourly.

"It was just an observation" he replied.

"Wait a second" she said as something clicked in her brain "oh my god, are you Maya's Terry?"

"Maya's ex Terry" he replied.

"I have a bone to pick with you" Harlan said. She'd already installed the part so she could now give Terry the firing he deserved.

Terry raised his eyebrows and looked at her "what about?" he asked looking puzzled.

"Well for starters, you obviously think that men are better than women" she exclaimed.

"What? I was stating my general observation" he replied.

"Your general observation that's oh so obviously chauvinistic" she remarked.

"What the"-

"And also do you know how much Maya liked you? In her e-mails she always talked about you and then you had to go and be an ASS and break up with her. I mean what is your problem? Maya is a great girl. Awesome in fact and you don't know how lucky you were. She was so hurt when you broke up with her; she sent me twenty seven e-mails venting her hurt and you"-

"Excuse me, would you pause for a second. Well firstly, look who's talking. Maya sent you all those e-mails but you didn't reply to a single one of them except to wish her on her birthday and where were you when she needed you the most huh?"

"I couldn't reply her mail even if I wanted to" Harlan shot back. "It's all part of the twin code. Orion wasn't talking to her and so neither could I".

"The twin code? That is the most rubbish thing I've ever heard off in my entire life. When your friend needs you, that's all that matters not some stupid code" he exclaimed.

"Well Mr. Chauvinistic, heart breaking pig, if you must know, Maya respected why I couldn't reply to her e-mails. I explained it all to her in a letter that I passed through Uncle Vic and why do you care, it's not like you cared about her anyway".

"I didn't care about her?" he asked incredulously. "I didn't care about her?" he repeated again in a dangerously low voice. "You don't know anything, wait why am I explaining anything to you anyway. I just met you".

"Well whatever all I know is that you broke up with Maya and you hurt her real bad. You have no heart" she said dramatically and turned around and stalked off in the direction of the main entrance.

"Harlan" Bruce called from the main entrance. He was just stepping into the mansion and with a smile he greeted his god daughter but it vanished when he noticed that his god daughter was seething.

"Hello Uncle Bruce" she greeted sullenly. "I installed the part already".

"Thanks" he replied as she walked down the steps.

"By the way" she called out "your son is a male chauvinistic, heart breaking, self wanking, and moronic, insensitive pig".

Bruce looked mildly amused. "I've not heard that one before" he muttered to himself. Then walking back into the house he called out "TERRY TRISTAN WAYNE WHAT DID YOU DO?"

* * *

Oliver patrolled that night with great determination. He felt a fire erupt within him unlike any other that he'd experienced. He needed to be vigilant, just in case those kidnappers decided to come back and do their job. He stood on the rooftop of central tower with his bow and his holster of arrows on his back. There was a couple walking below on the street with the mother holding the hand of a little girl. She looked to be about five years old or so. She was bouncing along happily while her father walked on beside them. Oliver looked around and when he thought there was no possible threat, he turned around and made his way down to the alley in between the buildings where his bike was parked. Just as he'd gotten on his bike, he heard loud screams from the street around the corner. He sprinted to the street where he saw a black van pulled up along side the curb with two masked men trying to drag the little girl into it. He shot a couple of arrows, his favorite electric arrow and his tear gas arrow and while the kidnappers were distracted he rescued the little girl and took her back to her parents.

Suddenly he felt two arms encircle his neck from behind and with quick thinking he delivered a back kick and his attacker's grip on him loosened, giving him enough time to deliver a few more well placed kicks to incapacitate the attacker. The other kidnapper who'd recovered from his brief electric shock decided to join in on the assault against Oliver. The green arrow dodged the punches without any difficulty and managed to deliver a few of his own to the kidnapper. The guy staggered backwards toward the van and with a glance in Oliver's direction he got into the van and drove off, leaving his partner behind. Oliver approached the injured kidnapper but as soon as he got within a few feet of the kidnapper, the guy took something from his pocket and swallowed it. Oliver rushed towards the kidnapper but by that time, the guy was already dead.

"Shit" he cursed. "Clark" he said into his communicator "I'm going to need your help".

* * *

Orion Queen woke up to the faint sound of shattering glass. Looking to his right, Maya was still curled up against him, her injured ankle propped up on some pillows. There was another faint shattering of glass and Orion became more alert. "Maya" he whispered shaking her gently.

"Orion?" she asked sleepily "what time is it?"

"Shhh it's one in the morning. Keep your voice down I think someone's trying to break into your house" he whispered and she sat up immediately.

Orion stood up and grabbing his new bow and arrow he made his way slowly and quietly towards the sound of the shattered glass.

"Whoa it's a good thing we picked this house boss" a gruff voice said "looks like we've hit the jackpot. How much do you think we'd fetch for this stuff?"

"Not sure, a couple of hundred bucks at least" the boss replied. "Now come on Rudy just put the stuff in the bag".

"Nobody's home right?" Rudy asked.

"Well nobody's supposed to be home" the boss replied "the car outside doesn't belong to the family living here so it must be the neighbor's car".

"My car's at your house" Maya whispered with a groan standing behind Orion. "You drove me home remember, because of my ankle".

"Wow this looks neat boss, check this out. It must be worth a fortune" Rudy exclaimed.

"Stop right there" Orion said holding up his bow and arrow.

"I thought you said nobody was supposed to be home" Rudy told his boss.

"Well there wasn't" his boss replied.

"It's just a punk boss" Rudy said and his boss nodded.

"Yeah" he said then abruptly charged into Orion who was unprepared for the sudden tackle.

"Orion!" Maya exclaimed as he wrestled with Rudy's boss.

"Oh lookie here there's a princess as well" Rudy exclaimed and he advanced towards Maya. He grabbed her but using her injured ankle, she kicked him in the groin and he let out a howl and placed his hands protectively over his privates. She then kicked him again using her injured leg and let out a soft cry of pain. Then she punched him a couple of times.

"My nose" Rudy howled as crimson colored blood poured from his nostrils.

"Yah" she yelled and punched him again rendering him unconscious.

Orion on the other end had also used a couple of well aimed kicks to the head to render Rudy's boss unconscious as well and was now panting wildly. Maya tried to place some weight on her ankle to see how much further she'd injured it but she couldn't it was too sore. She winced and hopped on her uninjured leg. Hurried footsteps were heard as Miss Maria, the Stone housekeeper rushed toward them.

"Oh Maya are you ok?" she asked in Spanish accented English.

"Yes Miss Maria" Maya replied.

"You ok too Orion?" she asked and he nodded trying to catch his breath.

"I already call police, they coming soon to take this scum" the housekeeper said glaring disgustedly at the two unconscious men while giving them a couple of kicks. "I hear big noise come from downstairs so I call police" she said.

Sometime later after the police had arrived to take away Rudy and his boss, Miss Maria had gone back to her room and Maya and Orion were left downstairs by themselves. "Can't sleep?" Orion asked watching Maya shift restlessly in her seat on the single couch.

"Not really" she replied and winced when a little pressure was put on her injured ankle.

"Did you injure your ankle a bit more?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah when I kicked that Rudy I think I made it worse" she replied.

"Bring it here, let me have a look" he said.

She hobbled over and sat beside him on the larger couch. He gently raised her leg and rested her injured ankle on his lap. "Oww" she let out.

"Sorry" he apologized "now I'm going to have to massage it for a bit to reduce the slight swelling" he said "and it's going to hurt".

She bit her lip to keep from crying out as he massaged her foot. When he was done she lowered her ankle to the floor. "Thanks" she said. "What about you?" she asked "can't sleep too?"

"Not really" he replied.

"Give me a couple of minutes" she said and disappeared, coming back a while later with two mugs of warm milk and chocolate chip cookies. Orion went over to her to help her carry the mugs. "This usually helps me sleep" she said with a grin. "Maybe it will help you too?"

What she didn't know was that this therapeutic method had been helping Orion sleep for the past four and a half years. He'd picked up from her when she'd left for her boarding school. After finishing their plate of cookies and their milk, Maya and Orion sat back down beside each other on the couch and within minutes both were fast asleep, Maya's head had unconsciously lolled onto Orion's shoulder and his head on hers. In fact, Orion fell into such a deep sleep that he didn't hear the clock chime nor did he hear a car horning from across the street. In fact it was the best sleep he'd had in a long time and one could put it down to the fact that he held in his arms, the one girl that he'd secretly been in love with all his life.

* * *

"Shit" Oliver cursed as Chloe gingerly dabbed some antiseptic cream onto one of cuts he'd gotten while battling the kidnappers.

"Relax Ollie" she said soothingly.

"I can't help but think that if I was just seconds late, that little girl wouldn't be with her parents right now" he said savagely.

"Well it's a good thing you weren't late then" she replied and dabbed more cream onto the cut.

"Ouch" he exclaimed jerking a little.

"Stop being such a baby Ollie, you're never like this when AC cleans up your cuts" she said with a slight frown.

"That's because AC isn't a beautiful and sexy woman like you" he replied and it earned him a smile and kiss.

"Although can you imagine if AC was a girl though?" Chloe asked.

Oliver thought for a while and tried to imagine a female AC then he shuddered. "Ewww" he exclaimed "it would be too weird".

"So what are we going to do about the kidnappings?" Chloe asked.

"Firstly I got Dr. Greenberg to examine the body of the kidnapper that Clark and I brought back. I want to know what it was that he took that killed him instantly. And frankly I think we need an insider" Oliver replied. "We need someone in there working with Lex but spying for us" he said.

"But who?" Chloe asked.

"I don't know Chlo. I really don't know" he replied.

* * *

**Author's note**: HAH! Hello my darlings!! I see I've left you on somewhat of an edge…I hope you like this ridiculously long chapter! I worked so hard on it. For those anonymous reviewers I'll say this again…PLEASE E-MAIL ME IF YOU WANT THE COOKIE… and for those who review you'll be sent the extra cookie…with much love from me…awwww. Anyway if you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know! I will be more than happy to put them in my story…sorry to all those loyal reviewers who read the last cookie…I had to use it in this chapter because of the way the story flowed…but if you like I could send you a little background cookie on the relationship that went on with Terry and Maya on top of the extra cookie…that one is an interesting one…more soon with the animals and the kidnappings…muahahaha…so now my darlings… REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! And you shall be rewarded! Now seriously people review and I'll update within a week…ta taa!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

**Chapter 7**

**The morning of Star High's senior dance**

Oliver sat at the dining table reading the papers while Lois watched him adoringly. Chloe was having a hard time trying to feed baby Carl who wasn't even succumbing to the 'choo choo train' feeding technique.

"Morning Harley" Oliver greeted his daughter as she sat down diagonally across from him.

"Morning" she replied hoarsely.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" Chloe asked "you don't sound too well".

"Oh she's fine" Orion said coming to sit down beside his twin. "She's only like this because tonight's the night of the big dance".

"Dance" she wailed and placed her head in her hands.

"Oh get over yourself Harley, it's just a couple of hours of dancing then the after party and that's it" Orion remarked.

"Where's the after party held?" Chloe asked.

"It's at Chase's house" Orion replied darkly and Oliver nearly laughed. "So what's the plan for today?"

"Well Kat and I are taking the girls for their manicure and pedicure, make up and hair appointments" Chloe replied and Harlan looked up in disbelief at her mother.

"Do we have to go for them?" Harlan asked.

"Well yes of course baby, it's your dance!" she exclaimed.

"Mom to be honest I don't even think I want to go" she replied.

"That's fine with me" Oliver replied "do you need me to call Xander and tell him you won't be attending?" he asked sweetly looking like Christmas had come early bringing with it a mountainous pile of presents.

"Ollie don't be silly" Chloe replied and shot him a glare. "Imagine how Xander will feel if you stood him up. Plus your father took a great deal of trouble and effort to get your dress for you".

Oliver nodded and tried to look pathetic "that's right" he replied. "I had a hard time alright".

Harlan laughed at the look on his face. "Don't you want to dress up and look all pretty Harley?" Lois asked. "You could look like a princess!" she exclaimed.

"And you wouldn't leave me there at the dance, on my own without my twin now would you?" Orion added and Harlan gave a resigned sigh.

"Oh fine, I'll go" she replied. "But I'm not dancing" she said stubbornly.

"You'll say that now but wait till you get there, it'll be a whole different story" Oliver said.

"Anyway guys I think now's the right time to tell you that your father volunteered us along with uncle Vic and aunt Kat to chaperone tonight's dance" Chloe said.

"HE WHAT?" both Harlan and Orion shouted at the same time.

"I said, your father"-

"I know what you said mom but- but WHY?" Orion asked looking like someone had clubbed him on the head.

"It's a family bonding experience" Oliver answered simply.

"No, it's a perfect excuse for you and Uncle Vic to keep an eye on me and Maya" Harlan said scowling.

"Maybe" Oliver replied.

"And let me guess, mom and aunt Kat are along because if you had to 'suffer' then they had to suffer too" Orion shot back.

"I don't have to justify my actions" Oliver replied snootily "I'm going to go and do some work".

"I'll be right back kids, your father and I need to talk" Chloe replied.

"Ollie is it true? That me and Kat are only chaperoning so that we can all suffer together?" Harlan and Orion heard her call after her husband who was walking away as fast as his legs would go.

"Daddy's in for it now" Lois remarked sympathetically. "Poor daddy".

"He deserves it" Harlan remarked.

"I would love daddy to champion my dance" Lois remarked as a matter of fact.

"The word is chaperone" Orion corrected.

"Yep that's the one" she replied.

"Oh you say that now, then when you get to our age you're going to change your mind" Harlan warned.

"I won't change my mind, I love daddy way too much" she replied.

* * *

Oliver looked at his wife who had her hands on her hips and was glaring at him. "Ollie you do realize that by both of us going we'll be spending time chaperoning a bunch of teens, we'll have to cut back on our 'alone' time tonight?"

Oliver scowled, "yeah, I know but I need to keep an eye on Harley and Xander. You know how guys are, they have roaming hands Chlo".

She looked slightly disgruntled "yes as I remember you have roaming hands yourself" she replied.

"But you love it" he replied with a wolfish grin.

"Maybe" Chloe replied folding her arms across her chest.

"Come on admit it" he coaxed using his roaming hands to appreciate her body.

She cracked a smile "oh alright but just a quickie" she replied. "Then we have to go back down to the kids, I have to take Harley for her appointment".

Oliver grinned and pounced on her, unbuttoning her blouse with gusto. "Hey take it easy on the blouse Ollie, it's my favorite".

"Mmmm" he replied back not really paying attention to her. Just as he was about to unbutton her skirt a blinding white hot pain sliced through his brain. His head began to pound and he realized that it was happening again. He was getting those weird visions.

_Oliver looked around. The whole room was in darkness and he had yet to make out anything but the Ollie the family man shaped lump on the bed. He watched as another figure strode into the room and pushed apart the curtains letting in a great beam of sunlight._

"_Alright Ollie, that's enough! I'm sick and tired of seeing you mope around and wallow in your self pity all day". It was Chloe and never before had Oliver ever seen such an annoyed expression grace her beautiful features._

"_Mmmphfgraph"came the indecipherable sound from Ollie's mouth._

"_No I don't care Ollie, you are going to get up and you are going to get over this nonsense right away. You've been moping around in your apartment for a good three weeks now. I think that it's high time that you stop this and get back to what's really important"._

"_Bwehsouflusmunbhm"came the once again indecipherable reply from Ollie._

"_Look I know you loved her but let's face it Ollie, you broke up with her and since you've taken a sabbatical absence from the league, the crime rate has risen by three percent. So I suggest you get off your ass, clean yourself up and do something about it before I do" Chloe said firmly._

"_Gah"Oliver replied and sat up in bed sluggishly._

"_Shower, now" Chloe ordered and pulled back the covers from Ollie._

"_Jesus woman, I'm going, I'm going no need to go Nazi on me" he remarked and she quirked her lips in a smile._

_The scene changed and this time Chloe was standing by the stove in the apartment and a delicious smell seemed to be wafting off the frying pan._

"_Is that blueberry pancakes I smell?" Oliver asked coming from the bedroom._

"_Yeah and you'll only get some if you've showered" Chloe remarked not turning away from the stove._

"_Well I have so can I have some now?" Oliver asked hopefully._

"_Let me see" she replied and turned around. Her breath caught in her throat. He had definitely showered. His hair was still quite damp and he was wearing low rise jeans. He was bare bodied save for his towel that was slung on his shoulder. She cleared her throat hastily when she realized she was staring and placed the pancakes on a plate and handed it to him._

"_Mmmm pancakes" he said once he'd dug into his food._

"_Well anyway I'd better be off, I've got work to do at the planet and I still have to fill out all the case files for the last three weeks of your absence" she replied and was about to grab her coat when Oliver grabbed her hand._

"_Chloe…" he said trailing off as she looked at him. "Thank you" he said and let go of her hand. "I really appreciate it"._

"_I know", she replied simply. "You better get your act together, the city needs you" she said and with a smile, she exited his apartment, shutting the door behind her with a click. _

_Oliver looked at the door from which she'd exited 'so this is how it all started' he thought to himself. _

Before he knew it the scene before him began to fade and his bedroom materialized before him with Chloe looking at him in concern.

"Ollie are you ok?" she asked looking at him, sitting on his lap. She caressed his cheeks with her fingers.

"Yeah I'm fine" he replied then changing the subject he said "so where were we?"

She grinned naughtily "why don't you remind me?"

He grinned wolfishly and pushed her onto the bed, kissing her neck hungrily.

* * *

Harlan and Maya groaned as their mothers fussed over them. They had spent the last couple of hours being shoved into beauty parlors and hair salons.

"I swear if my mom makes me do anything else, I'm going to bloody shoot someone" Harlan groaned.

"If my mother says 'Maya don't hunch' in that voice of hers I will join you and cause a massacre" Maya said looking incredibly annoyed.

"Time to put on the dresses" Kat said looking excited and Maya moaned.

"Your mom's way worse than mine" Harlan remarked "maybe it's because she used to be a model".

"God I hate this" Maya replied and Harlan was about to agree with her but as soon as they saw their dresses all cries of protests died in their throats.

"It's beautiful" Harlan exclaimed looking at her dress.

"Yeah would you believe your father picked it out all by himself?" Chloe asked and Harlan looked even more awed.

"Wow your dress is gorgeous" Maya said looking at the beautiful crimson gown.

"And so is yours" Harlan said looking at Maya's dress which Kat had brought out.

It was a champagne colored full length gown that was designed to be simple and elegant. There was gold embroidery over the bodice and the stiff silk skirt. Maya smiled at her mother.

"Don't look at us" Katherine said "both your fathers have good taste".

Chloe laughed "now go get dressed I believe we have a dance to attend to"

* * *

Oliver was lounging around the Stone family's living room with Lois and Victor. "When are they going to come down?" Lois whined impatiently.

"They'll be here soon" Oliver replied.

"They're here!" Lois squealed suddenly as Harlan and Maya walked down the stairs to the stone living room.

Oliver felt a fuzzy feeling inside as he watched his daughter walk down the stairs. It was an emotion crossing between pride and awe. He wasn't quite sure.

"Thank you for my dress daddy" she said and Oliver smiled. "It's beautiful".

"You look beautiful Harley" he said and kissed her cheek.

"Hey dad I notice you've been calling me Harley lately" she said beaming at him. "You never used to call me Harley. You always said it made me sound like a bike" she said.

He shrugged "it began to grow on me" he said.

Meanwhile Maya was laughing as she picked up Lois. "You look like a princess" the five year old was saying earnestly.

"You'll dirty your dress if you don't put her down" Chloe warned.

"It's ok, Lois is more important than the dress" she replied and Lois hugged her tightly around the neck.

"Oh please, please marry Orrie than you and I can be sister in laws Maya!" she mumbled against Maya's neck.

"Oh Lois" Maya replied with a laugh and kissed the little girl's cheek fondly.

"Where's O?" Harlan asked looking around the living room for her twin.

"He left because he had to pick up his date" Chloe replied looking sour.

"So what time are your _friends_ getting here?" Victor asked deliberately leaving out the word boy.

"Soon" Maya replied.

"Yeah Xander and Chase are going to pick us up" Harlan replied.

As if on cue the doorbell rang and Kat went to answer it. Seconds later voices were heard coming through the hall.

"You have a lovely home Mrs. Stone"

"Why thank you Chase" Kat replied.

"You have a lovely home Mrs. Stone" Lois mimicked still being carried by Maya "Orrie would have said something better than that". She fixed a sour expression on her face when Chase approached them.

"Hello Maya" Chase said looking at her "you look beautiful".

"Of course she does" Lois remarked turning her nose up at him. "She's Maya she always looks beautiful"

"And who is this little girl?" he asked Maya.

"I'm not little" Lois shot back looking quite insulted at him calling her little.

Maya chuckled "this is Lois, she's Harlan's little sister and my god sister" she introduced and Lois glared at Chase and buried her face in Maya's neck. "Lois honey, this is Chase. Do you want to say hello to Chase?" Maya asked.

"No, I don't want to" Lois replied burying her face in Maya's neck further.

"Ok Lois, I have to put you down now. I'm going to go to the dance now" Maya said and tried to put Lois down but the five year old clung on.

"I don't want you to go" she said her voice muffled.

"Come on Lois Maya needs to go" Harlan said walking over to her sister with Xander in tow.

"Lois, let go" Oliver said firmly and Lois still refused.

Oliver walked over to Lois and Maya and pried Lois from her god sister. "I don't want Maya to go" she wailed to her father stretching out her arms and reaching out to Maya. "I don't want her to go with him" she said pointing accusingly at Chase "I don't like him" she said.

Those around her laughed it off "I'm sure you didn't mean it did you Lois?" Chloe asked.

"No, I meant it" Lois said and she glared at Chase.

"What a cute kid" Chase remarked to Maya.

"I'm not a kid" Lois snapped glaring at him.

"Lois that's enough" Oliver said and he carried her away to the other end of the room.

"That wasn't the way to behave Lo" Oliver lectured.

"I know daddy but she's not supposed to go with him" Lois spat glaring at Chase.

"Well if Maya wants to go with Chase, that's her choice. It's not for us to decide" Oliver said and Lois stuck out her lower lip. "Ok?"

"Ok" she replied sullenly.

"Now you're going to stay here ok? Uncle Vic has hired a nice babysitter to look after you, Carl and Naira" Oliver said. "Mommy and I have to go and make sure that the boys take care of Harley and Maya" he said.

"Ok daddy but can you do me a favor?" Lois asked Oliver.

"Sure what is it?" Oliver asked. She looked at him and whispered in his ear. When she pulled away she looked at him questioningly.

"Sure, I'll see what I can do" Oliver said with a smile.

"Thank you daddy" she replied and hugged him.

On the other end of the living room Chase was handing Maya her corsage "thanks" she replied shyly and smiled at him.

"Shall we go?" Xander asked offering his arm to Harlan.

"Sure" Harlan replied with a giddy smile on her face. Oliver frowned, he wasn't too happy with the way this Xander twit was acting towards his daughter.

"Come on Ollie, get your car and let's go too" Chloe said touching her husband on the shoulder gently.

"Yeah" he replied absentmindedly and watched as Harlan and Xander went to his Mercedes sports and Maya and Chase climbed into his Ferrari.

"I don't trust a boy that drives a Ferrari" Victor mumbled coming to stand next to Oliver.

"I don't trust any boy with Harlan" Oliver replied.

* * *

Orion Jonas Queen entered the ballroom with Amber Stevens a girl from his English class and model for a lingerie line. "Wow, look at this place" Amber remarked from beside him. She was wearing a pale pink dress and her hair was piled on top of her head in curls. They were late basically because Amber wanted to make sure she looked her absolute best.

Orion wasn't really paying attention to her but rather he was looking around the place for a certain someone. Then he finally caught sight of her. His breath caught in his throat. She was wearing a champagne colored gown, her hair was down in large curls and she looked like a goddess.

"Come on Amber, let's go mingle" he said and made a beeline for Maya.

"Hi guys" he said turning to look at Chase, Harlan and Xander. Then looking at Maya he shot her a smile and a pleasant "hi".

She smiled back "hello".

"You look great" he told her in a general friendly sort of way which made Harlan raise an eyebrow.

"Thanks, you look good too" she replied gesturing to his suit. He was wearing an all black suit with a forest green tie and shoes that matched the color of his eyes uncannily.

It was at that precise moment that Oliver and Victor approached the group with Chloe and Kat. "Oh great" Harlan groaned, "Here comes the fun police".

"We're here to do a routine check to see if you've got any inappropriate items on you. So we're going to check your pockets" Oliver said. He searched Xander's pockets but to his dismay he couldn't find anything on the boy. Then he searched Chase and hit the jackpot with a little miniature flask and a packet of cigarettes.

"These aren't mine" Chase protested "T.J asked me to keep them till he came back from the toilet" Chase defended.

"I don't see a T.J here" Oliver remarked to Victor.

"Looks like we're going to have to take you in buddy" Victor said looking fierce.

"Take me in? Why? Where?" Chase asked looking alarmed.

"You may have to be strip searched" Oliver said seriously "you may have hidden other harmful items in places that we do not know of".

"Yes, I'm afraid your going to have to come with us" Victor said standing up straighter.

As Chase was being led away by Oliver and Victor, Kat 'accidentally' tripped over Chloe's foot spilling coke all over Amber's pale pink dress.

"Oh my god my dress!" she shrieked and glared angrily at Kat. "Look at what you did?"

"I'm so sorry, it was an accident. Let me help you take care of that" she said and she and Chloe led Amber away.

"Awww too bad for Amber" Harlan said but she was smiling. "Come on Xander let's go dance" she said and pulled him to the dance floor.

"When will they bring Chase back?" Maya asked Orion as Harlan and Xander left, leaving them alone.

"Not sure" Orion replied truthfully. Maya sighed and looked at the dance floor longingly.

"You really look great Maya" Orion said.

"Thanks" she replied. "Dad got me the dress, weird huh?" she asked with a laugh.

He chuckled "well my mom picked out my suit for me" he replied.

"That is weirder" she replied laughing. "But it does look good" she said "it really brings out the color in your eyes".

"Hey Maya do you want to"-

"Maya?" another voice cut in and both Orion and Maya looked at the owner of the voice.

"Terry?" Maya asked giving him a hug "what are you doing here?" Terry was wearing a black and white suit and he reminded Orion of James Bond.

"Your dad invited me as a chaperone" Terry told her "he said he and Uncle Ollie could do with my help". Then when he spotted Orion his face broke into a smile "oh hey Orion" he greeted, though his smile seemed forced. _It wasn't like that the last time_ Orion thought to himself though maybe Terry forced himself to be nice to Orion when they'd met.

"I'm so glad you're here" Maya said hugging him again "they took my date because he had cigarettes and a flask with him".

"Hey do you want to dance?" Terry asked as and Maya beamed.

"I'd love to" she replied flashing him that beautiful heart melting smile of hers.

* * *

Oliver stood in the male toilet eyeing Chase suspiciously. Victor was standing next to Oliver with his arms folded across his chest.

"Look I told you, I don't have anything else on me" Chase said looking at the two men.

"Why don't I believe you?" Oliver replied.

"I'm telling the truth" Chase said, and by now he was sweating profusely.

"Look, Maya is my god daughter. She's my only god daughter and she means a lot to me and my family" Oliver said. "She's like my family, and I protect my family".

"I don't have anything on me I swear" Chase replied.

"Well to make sure of that, we've called in someone who's certified to search you" Oliver replied.

The door to the toilet opened and a man wearing a white uniform walked in. "Hello, you must be Chase. I'm Lesley Smith and I'm a nurse. I'll be searching you this evening" he said putting on latex gloves. Chase winced when the rubber went 'snap' against Lesley's wrist.

"You can't do this, my father's the mayor" Chase shouted as Lesley led him to a cubicle.

"I don't care if your father is Voldermort himself. Unfortunately, you bought the tickets for the dance and if you looked at the fine print on the ticket, you would have seen the warning" Victor replied.

"What warning? Where is it?" Chase asked.

"It was on the back of the ticket and it says 'any student maybe subjected to a strip search to ensure the safety of all the other students. Any student who refuses to partake in the search will be expelled from the school'" Oliver replied. "I sponsored the tickets I should know".

Chase gulped and was wordlessly led into the cubicle. When the cubicle door closed, Oliver and Victor broke out into similar grins.

"Oh this is going to be fun" Victor remarked as a yell echoed throughout the toilet.

"And we're going to enjoy every bit of it" Oliver exclaimed gleefully.

* * *

Orion watched bitterly as Maya danced dance after dance with Terry and then her god father had requested a dance and now her father. Orion watched as Victor twirled his daughter around.

"Beautiful isn't she" Terry remarked from beside Orion.

"Yeah" Orion agreed absent mindedly, as he watched as Maya's face lit up. Her smile was that of pure joy and her hair had a life of its own. "She has fire and spirit" Orion replied.

"If you think she's got fire and spirit now, wait till you get her in bed" Terry replied as he followed Orion who'd stepped out of the ballroom for some fresh air.

Orion whirled around sharply "what did you say?" he asked.

"I said if you think she's got fire and spirit now, than you should see her in bed" Terry replied coolly.

"What do you mean by that?" Orion asked dangerously.

"What do you think I meant by that?" Terry asked. "I meant that she's great in the sack. I slept with her".

"What?" Orion asked, his voice a menacing whisper.

"You heard what I said" Terry replied. I. Slept. With. Maya".

Orion seethed and clenched his fist. The mental images of Terry putting his hands all over Maya made his blood boil.

"It irks you doesn't it?" Terry asked with a sardonic laugh. "That I got to her before you did. Oh it really pisses you off" Terry said with a laugh.

"Shut up" Orion said menacingly and Terry laughed cruelly.

"Makes you want to hit me doesn't it? Knowing that I fucked her brains out must really make your blood boil".

"I said SHUT UP" Orion roared.

"Knowing that she cried my name while I fucked her, really must piss the fuck out of you doesn't it? Maya the virgin became Maya the"-

Terry didn't get to finish his sentence as Orion's fist collided with his jaw. He braced himself expecting Terry to hit back but the older youth only laughed as blood trickled from his lower lip.

"Don't talk about Maya that way" Orion warned.

Terry advanced towards Orion "you think I'm going to give her up so easily? Well you thought wrong".

"You're the one that broke up with her" Orion spat angrily, every fiber in his body on fire.

"It was a mistake that I will never make again. I thought I was doing it for her but I'm not going to do it again" Terry said.

"Fuck you" Orion spat.

"You're the most stupid dickhead I've ever met" Terry said laughing. "All those years she was right in front of you and yet you didn't even see her. I thought when I broke up with her you'd have opened your eyes but I guess not, so now I'm not going to give up without a fight" he replied.

"Bring it buddy" Orion snarled. "You're nothing, sure it hurt me to know she went out with you of all people but I'm sure it hurts you even more that you're second best to me. I knew her first".

This time it was Terry who swung a mean right hook at Orion's jaw splitting his lower lip. Orion swung back and aimed a kick at Terry which he blocked.

"You think you're so tough just because your daddy is the Green Arrow" Terry taunted "well guess what Robin Hood Junior, my dad's batman so I guess we're evenly matched".

"That doesn't mean shit" Orion snapped as he blocked a punch from Terry and kicked him in the shin.

"O? What the hell are you doing?" came a shocked voice from behind the sparring duo.

"What does it fucking look like Harlan? I'm baking cupcakes" Orion snapped.

"Stop it!" she cried and pulled them apart.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys, why are you fighting?" she asked but Terry merely walked away from them.

"I'll catch up with you later" Harlan told her brother. "The dance is almost ending and you'd better hurry if you want at least one dance with Maya" she said and without explaining she ran after Terry.

* * *

Oliver felt a pair of slender arms slide around his waist and smelt a familiar scent of perfume and he inhaled deeply.

"How's it going chaperone?"

"Not bad, how about you Chlo? What was the deal with Kat's 'accidental' coke spillage on O's date's dress?" he asked.

"Oh nothing we just wanted to get rid of her for a while" Chloe replied with a chuckle.

"You cheeky devil" Oliver chided "who knew you were so evil?"

"She kissed Oliver on the cheek, so you want to dance?" she asked and before he could reply she pulled him onto the dance floor.

"Chlo we're supposed to be chaperoning" Oliver said as they moved to the beat of a fast paced song.

"Well the chaperoning can wait, besides I want to spend some time with my husband who looks so sexy in his suit tonight" she replied with a feral grin.

"I guess it can wait" he replied.

"Hey what's going on over there?" Chloe asked gesturing in the direction where Maya and Orion were talking.

"I sent Chase and Xander off on an errand" Oliver replied "wanted to keep him away from Harlan and Maya for as long as possible and maybe give O a chance to have Maya to himself for awhile".

"Looks like he's asking her to dance" Chloe remarked. "Come with me, I have an idea" she said and pulled her husband with her to the corner of the dance floor.

* * *

"Hey Maya" Orion said as he approached her. She was standing a little off the dance floor by herself.

"Hey Orion whoa what happened to you?" she asked noticing his split lip and the slight bruise on his jaw.

"Oh nothing, it's nothing" he replied dismissively. She wasn't stupid, she knew something was up but she didn't push it.

"Here let me help you" she said and reached out to her table to grab an unused napkin. Dipping it in the glass of water she had been drinking before, she gingerly wiped away the blood that was trickling from his lip. She traced the bruise with her fingers and Orion felt an electric current surge through his body.

"Does it hurt?" she asked gently and continued to dab at his lip.

"Not really" he replied. She was so close that he could feel her body heat.

"Good" she replied "I'm done" she said and chucked the napkin back on the table.

"Thanks" he replied.

"Oh wait you're tie's all weird" she said and fixed up his tie for him.

"Thanks" he said again.

"It's alright" she replied "what are friends for right?" she asked and it was like a punch to his gut.

"Yeah friends" he said "anyway Maya, where's Chase?" he asked.

"Oh he was sent to go and look for Principal Mosley" she replied.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked her and she looked slightly surprised but nodded her head. He held out his hand and led her to the dance floor. As soon as they'd gotten onto the dance floor, a slow song came on. Maya looked a little uncomfortable and awkwardly placed her hands around Orion's neck. He smiled and placed his hands on her waist. It seemed to him that she was looking everywhere else but at him. He wrapped both his arms around her waist and joined his hands together at her back, forcing her to move closer to him. He grinned to himself when he heard her sharp intake of breath, but she didn't pull away. He smiled to himself. At that precise moment, everything seemed to fit perfectly.

* * *

A little distance away a green eyed blond was watching the couple dance with excitement.

"Oh Ollie, look at them" she said with a sigh.

"You're a genius" Oliver told his wife as she swayed in his arms.

"I know" She replied simply.

"Well I guess Lois's favor is done then" he said.

"What do you mean?" She asked "what did Lois ask for?"

"She asked me that no matter what happens, I have to get Orion and Maya to dance at least once and it had to be a slow song".

"That daughter of ours" Chloe said with a sigh "is so set on having Maya as her sister in law that I'm willing to be she'd do anything to make it happen".

"But I want that to happen too" Oliver replied "I just want to see Orion happy and I think he'd be the happiest with Maya".

"Have I told you that I find your goodness oh so sexy?" Chloe asked.

"Nope, but please feel free to remind me" he replied and with a smile and she leaned up to kiss him.

* * *

"Hey Terry wait!" Harlan called as she caught up to him.

"What? What do you want?" he asked her.

"I just wanted to say sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you the other day. I barely even know you".

"Yeah whatever" he replied and turned around to walk away.

"Why did you break up with Maya?" she asked.

"It's none of your business, I don't need to explain anything to you" he snarled.

"Maya's my friend and maybe I can help" she said.

"You can't help at all" he replied "and besides you'd be on your brothers side".

"Just tell me why you broke up with her, I just want to know" she exclaimed looking frustrated.

"Fine, you want to know? You really want to know why I broke up with Maya?" he snapped and she nodded her head. "Well sit down" he replied and gestured to a bench. "It might take a while".

* * *

The after party proved to be a bit more exciting that Orion thought it would be. Orion spotted Maya who'd changed into something a little more casual than her gown was sitting by the bar.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Chase asked her.

"Sure" she replied "can I get a bourbon coke please?"

"Yeah one bourbon coke coming right up" Chase replied and handed her a drink that he'd poured for her.

"Thanks" she replied. "Come on let's go dance" she said and pulled Chase to the dance floor.

Orion watched as Chase put his hands on her waist and began grinding her. Something in Orion stirred angrily as he watched the pair. God this whole thing that he was feeling with Maya was completely new and definitely weird.

He watched as Chase's hands slid down Maya's waist and land on her hips. Orion knew that Chase was about to slide his hands down more and he wasn't about to let that happen.

Before Chase could even attempt to fondle Maya Orion shoved him off her. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Chase asked angrily.

"Get the hell away from her" Orion shouted and people were beginning to stare.

"Let's take this outside" Chase growled and he pushed past Orion to the front doors that led to the gardens.

"What is going on?" Maya asked when the three of them reached the garden.

"Orion over here shoved me for no damn reason that's what's going on?" Chase said.

"Why?" she asked.

"He was about to touch you Maya" Orion exclaimed looking at her in disbelief when it looked like she wasn't going to get angry with Chase or slap him.

"Well he didn't" she said. "Anyway what if he was going to? What's wrong with that? He is my boyfriend after all" she said and Orion felt like someone had stabbed him.

"I can't believe you" Orion shouted "he was about to-, I'm telling you! And you're not doing anything about it?"

"He didn't do anything Orion. I don't get what your problem is. Are you just trying to pick a fight? Is that how you got that bruise and split your lip? By picking a fight with someone?" she asked.

"I think our friend here feels a little threatened" Chase said.

"Threatened?" Maya asked looking confused.

"Yeah maybe Orion here feels threatened that now you've got me in your life that he'll be second best" Chase said.

"You know what? I don't care I'm going back inside" Maya said looking angrily at Orion and turned around to walk away.

"Maya wait I"-

"No Orion, I've waited long enough, I'm not waiting anymore" she replied and with that she walked back into the mansion. She was about to look for Harlan whom she'd not seen since the start of the dance when she received an e-mail message on her phone. Looking at her phone, her eyes widened and she hurried off to make a phone call.

* * *

Oliver looked around at the members of the justice league. Everyone was there including Dinah.

"As you all know I received a very important phone call about a while ago and I have found us a spy" he said. "Our spy will be working for Lex and will be keeping an eye out for the kidnapped victims as well". He looked around at every face. AC looked concerned, Bart looked surprised, Dinah looked thoughtful, Bruce looked stony and Victor looked grim. "Our spy will be working closely with Lex Luthor and will be his personal assistant".

"So who's our spy?" Bart asked.

"It's Maya" Oliver said seriously. He'd already discussed this issue with Victor and although Victor knew the risks that Maya would be taking, they had no other choice.

"Dude but Maya"- AC broke off unable to find the right words.

"Oh no muchacho nacho" Bart let out glancing at Victor who remained silent.

"Maya was chosen as the spy because she was the only one eligible to apply for an internship with Luthocorp. He excellent grades plus her scholarship made her a more than worthy candidate for the internship. She'd be working with Lex every day after school starting from Monday" Oliver replied.

"Is Maya ok with it?" Bruce asked in concern.

"It was her idea to begin with. She actually applied without telling us. She knew if she'd told us than we'd have said no" Victor said. "She only just got an e-mail from Luthorcorp congratulating her on being chosen by Lex himself to be his intern".

"Well league, it looks like we've got our opening" Oliver said looking at the league. "We're going to find those kids, we're just lucky that there hasn't been a kidnapping in a while. I want everyone to step up their game. Keep a sharper eye out when you're on patrols and focus more, I have a feeling that Lex is planning something big and I want to be ready for it".

* * *

**Author's note**: Ok so I know this chapter isn't as long as the rest but I've been really busy and all. Anonymous reviewers once again if you want the extra cookie that I'll be sending to the reviewers please review and in your review itself please put your e-mail address. I'm taking cookie and story requests and so far I've got a few. It would be great if you could tell me in your review which one you want first…

1. A cookie with the pairing of Maya/Terry set 10 years in the future possibly with a baby.

2. A Terry/Harlan hookup they have a angst filled relationship in the beginning which later mellows out to a pleasant one.

3. A chlollie fic in which they meet while Ollie is going out with Lois.

4. A Maya/Orion cookie where he is caught in a tricky situation with her.

5. An Ollie and Little Lois fic where they are doing normal father daughter things

6. An Ollie and Little Lois fic where he's teaching her how to fight.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

**Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to my best friend Ado for always listening even when I'm being an empty vessel.**

**Chapter 8**

Today was pancakes day and yet Harlan Queen couldn't seem to find it in her to finish up the batch of delicious blueberry pancakes that her mother had whipped up.

"Are you going to eat that?" Orion asked and when Harlan didn't answer he took his fork and stabbed the pancakes, putting them on his plate.

"You are such a pig" she remarked casually staring at him in disgust.

"Err…you do realize that would make you a pig too right? I mean we are twins" he replied.

"Oh shut up and eat your pancakes" she snapped.

"Someone is in a bad mood" Orion huffed to little Lois who nodded in understanding.

"She's been like this since Sunday" she whispered to her brother.

"I see" he replied. "Don't worry I'll get to the bottom of this" he whispered to his kid sister and she smiled toothily at him.

"I'm going outside" Harlan announced and abandoning what was left of her breakfast, she made her way outside.

"Oi Harley, wait up" Orion called jogging up to her. "What's been going on with you, why are you suddenly so anal?" he asked her and she glared angrily at him.

"None of your business" she replied.

"You've been acting weird since the dance, speaking of the dance where were you? I didn't see you at the after party".

"I came straight back home, where did you go? I heard from dad who heard from mum who heard from aunt Kat who heard from Uncle Vic that you left your car at his place after the after party".

"Maya had a little too much to drink and I helped her get home safely and then it was too late to drive back, so I stayed the night" he replied simply.

"Err…does Uncle Vic know?" Harlan asked looking thoughtful.

"No way man, he'd hand me upside down by my balls and then bash me to death" Orion replied.

"Did you sleep with her?" Harlan asked curiously.

"No, what kind of guy do you take me for? She was drunk Harley! I wouldn't take advantage of a drunken chick. Besides if I do have sex with her I definitely want her to remember it!" he exclaimed and Harlan rolled her eyes.

"Come on we've got to go to school" she replied and walked away.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Orion thought out aloud "has she got her period or something?"

* * *

Oliver Queen was in the league's control tower when heard footsteps walking towards him and he turned around. "Oh hey Harley, I didn't see you there" he said.

She didn't answer him or acknowledge that she'd heard him and he looked at her with concern. "Is everything alright Harley?" he asked.

She sighed heavily. "Not really" came the truthful reply.

"What's wrong?" he asked and she dropped down into a chair.

"Dad has anyone ever told you information, painful information? And by them telling you that specific painful information, it's caused you to feel their pain too? And you can't do anything about it?" she asked.

"Yes" Oliver replied thoughtfully.

"Ever felt like you should be doing something to ease that person's pain but you can't do anything because you don't know what to do?" she asked.

"Yes, what's all this about Harley?" he asked swiveling his chair around to look at her.

"Nothing dad" she said with a sigh, "I've just got some stuff to deal with, but the thing is I've got to deal with it on my own".

"You don't have to go through anything alone Harley" Oliver said "your mother and I are always here for you if you need us".

"Thanks dad" she replied.

"Come here" he said and opened his arms to her for a hug.

"Thanks dad" she said her voice muffled against his chest. "I needed a hug badly".

"Anytime" he whispered.

She swiped the back of her palm against her cheek and Oliver was sure that she was wiping away stray tears. "So what are you working on?" she asked pointing to a tangled mass of wires on the table that he was trying his best to untangle.

"Well it's supposed to be a communicator for Maya" he replied.

"A communicator for Maya?" Harlan asked "Why does she need one?"

"Didn't she tell you?" Oliver asked in surprise.

"No she didn't, she's been acting really weird since the dance. Every time I talk to her I just get one word answers. She's not even catching a ride with us to school today".

"Maya's going to be our spy, she'll be working as Lex Luthor's intern everyday after school starting today" he replied.

"Oh" she said slowly, "that would explain the weirdness and the monosyllabic answers. She gets that way when she's nervous".

"Yeah and I'm still no closer to making this communicator for her" Oliver replied "and she starts work this afternoon".

"Give it here" Harlan said holding out her hand "let me see what I can do".

Five minutes later, Harlan had come up with a communicator for Maya. "Wow Harley, that's amazing. How did you do that?"

She shrugged "I'm no quite sure to be honest. I just rewired it, configuring the microchip with a Bluetooth that's only linked to our channel and hooked it up with the Queen Industries satellite".

"Wow, ok" Oliver exclaimed trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Yeah I mean, it's pretty simple" Harlan replied shrugging her shoulders again.

"O said that you'd come up with other stuff, what kind of stuff?" he asked and she smiled, a gleam in her eyes.

"Come on I'll show you" she replied and she led him to the garage where there was a door with a sign that said HARLEY'S WORKSPACE.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Harley's workspace?" he asked.

"Err…yeah?" she replied.

"Wait a sec, who gave you this room?" he asked and Harlan outright gawked at him.

"You did!" she exclaimed and Oliver looked stricken for a second.

"Oh yeah…err…right, I forgot that for a second" he said.

She opened the room door and at once Oliver was overwhelmed with the gadgets, wires, pieces of metal and tools that were strewn all over the place.

"Don't look at that stuff dad" she said dismissing a shelf of half finished objects "here are all my finished projects" she replied and led him to a metal shelf.

"Wow what is all this?" he asked as she laid out different gadgets before him.

"Ok this is a watch, but it's not any watch, it's got an inbuilt camera and a tracking monitor with a GPRS system" she replied and handed him the watch. "You can detect any living person or vehicle within a twenty mile radius".

"Wha- How?" Oliver asked as she demonstrated how the watch worked.

"It comes from watching all those spy movies" she replied with a laugh.

"This is incredible Harley, what else do you have?" he asked.

"This" she said pointing to a pair of black leather boots "is my personal favorite. When you wear the boots and stamp twice, tiny suction cups will surface from the souls of the boots enabling you to walk on any surface. And when you need the boots to function normal again pull the tiny white flap on the inside of the calf of the boots. It's been tried and tested so I know for a fact that this works".

"Wow" he exclaimed picking up the pair of boots to examine them.

"This is something I modified for you and the league" she said and held out a velvet box of steel bands. "It's a ring that is specially designed and linked to each other. It connects to the DNA of the user and it also serves as a tracking signal and a communicator. The rings are only connected to each other so there is no way that the communication lines can be intercepted". Oliver looked like he was about to interrupt but Harlan quickly preempted what he was about to say. "In case you're wondering dad, I connected it to the league's satellite, not Queen Industry's satellite".

"Clever girl" Oliver replied proudly. "But how did you somehow connect the DNA with the rings?" he asked in bewilderment.

"I collected hair from each of the league members and placed them in the individual rings, so the particular ring will only work for the person whose DNA sample it contains".

"Brilliant Harley, what else have you got?" he asked.

"Well for you I've specifically designed these arrows that do not have the normal arrowheads but rather they have needle points instead that are laced with a powerful chemical that can put its victim to sleep, or it can temporarily paralyze its victim. I learnt that from watching Johnny English" she said with a sheepish grin.

"And this?" Oliver asked pointing to little discs on the table.

"This was a request from Maya" she said "They are discs that act as boomerangs, they come back to the owner but that's not it, in the thin hollow part of the discs, there's a component of sleeping gas concealed that can be activated by the owner at any time with the use of a small detonator like device".

"Wow, Harley all this stuff is gold" he exclaimed "I can't tell you how impressed I am".

She blushed "aww shucks dad, you're embarrassing me" she said.

"Wait, what's that over there?" he asked pointing to a large weird shaped item in the corner covered by a black sheet.

"Oh that" she replied "it's just a little something I'm working on".

"Can I have a look?" he asked.

"Sure" she said and with an almighty tug, she pulled apart the sheet and if Oliver wasn't so manly he would have gasped out aloud.

"Oh Christ" he exclaimed looking at the great silver thing in front of him. "What is that?" he asked.

"This" she exclaimed "is the future mode of transportation for the Queen family in regards to league matters. It's called the crown jewel" she replied sheepishly.

"The crown jewel?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah, yeah I know" she snapped "it's just temporary until I come up with a better name".

"What does it do and what's that pod like thing attached to the top?" he asked.

"I kind of got inspiration from when I was repairing Uncle Bruce's bat mobile" she said. "The pod attached to the top is called the sniper dome" she explained. "It's a bullet proof, fire proof dome that's finger print sensitive that will enable only a member of the queen family inside. It revolved on that swivel point on the roof that will help if we're being shot at or if someone's chasing us".

"Oh sweet god, Harley this is the most genius thing I've ever seen" he exclaimed. "So what about the actual vehicle though, what's that about?"

"Well it's based on the design of an army land assault vehicle" she replied "and in the front it sits both you and mum and in the middle there's a space for a car seat that I've designed especially to fit Carl. In the back there's space to fit three, Lois, Myself and O. But when Carl gets bigger, Orrie will sit in the sniper dome" she explained "to accommodate everyone".

"So what do you have inside the car?" he asked as he got into the driver's seat and she got into the front passenger's seat.

"Well it's fitted with the standard bat mobile stuff that I helped fit for Uncle Bruce but it's also got the extras like the cup holder, DVD player and LCD screen for the kiddies to watch their cartoons. Plus it's got a child lock, its finger print sensitive so that the engine will only starts if either you, mom, Orion or I place our thumb print on the little thumb pad next to the wheel".

"It's also supposed to have a bullet proof armor but I can't really afford that at the moment" she replied gloomily.

"Wait" he exclaimed "how did you manage to afford all this in the first place?"

"Well it comes from all the pocket money I've saved along with the birthday money that I've gotten and the money I get for fixing up Uncle Bruce's bat mobile, Uncle Vic and Aunt Dinah's bikes".

"You mean to say you get money from them?" Oliver asked incredulously.

"Well at first I was doing all the repairs for free but then Uncle Bart advised me to stop doing it and to start charging people" she remarked.

"Since when did Bart change his job from league pipsqueak to financial advisor?" Oliver asked.

Harlan shrugged her shoulders "there's no way I would have been able to afford all this materials and stuff otherwise. Plus O gave me all his pocket money too and Uncle Bruce really helped" she replied.

"How so?" he asked curiously.

"Well uncle Bruce gives me a lot every time he needs the bat mobile fixed" she replied.

"How much?" Oliver asked narrowing his eyes.

"Just a couple of million" she replied timidly.

"A COUPLE OF MILLION?" he exclaimed.

"Well yeah! How else did you think I was able to afford to build this up?"

"Well I thought maybe you got money from somewhere I didn't think Bruce gave you a couple of MILLION!!"

"Well he really wanted me to finish this" she exclaimed.

"Ok I'm going to have to talk to Bruce about this but I've decided to help finance your project. You can do whatever you want and get whatever you need. I just want you to finish the project" he said. "You have such an extraordinary gift and maybe it's time that I supported it don't you think?" he asked and she practically beamed at him.

"I LOVE YOU DADDY!!" she exclaimed and threw herself at him squeezing him tightly.

Oliver winced slightly; he still wasn't comfortable with the whole love thing just yet. Sure he liked his kids and he liked it wife (a lot) but love was a strong emotion. An emotion that he didn't think he was feeling just yet. He'd only been here a couple of weeks and that wasn't enough time to fall in love, right?

"I still can't believe that Maya's going to be working for Lex Loser" Harlan remarked.

"Yeah, it's going to be tough but she'll get through it" Oliver replied.

"Well in that case she might need this" Harlan replied and opened the velvet box that took out the plain band with an M engraved on it. Oliver gave her a questioning look "just in case something like this would turn up, I made one for her too. It's better than the communicator so Maya can just use this instead" she replied.

"Good I'll give this to her along with the earpiece" Oliver replied.

"Actually since O's got most of his classes with her today why don't you give it to him to pass it to her?" Harlan suggested and Oliver grinned at her.

"You are so devious you know that?" he asked and she shrugged.

"Speaking of O, I wonder what he'll say when he finds out about Maya working for Lex" Harlan wondered out aloud to her father.

* * *

"Oh no, no, no, no! No freaking way!" Orion shouted in the kitchen.

"She has to" Oliver yelled back "the lives of many children rest in her hands!"

"She can't work for Lex Luthor!" Orion roared "do you have any idea who he is??"

"Yes I do and this is for the best of everyone. Stop being selfish Orion and think about the children who were kidnapped" he yelled.

"I don't care!" Orion yelled "you're fucking putting her in danger!"

"DON'T USE THAT LANGUAGE IN FRONT OF YOUR SISTER!" Oliver roared as Harlan covered Lois's ears.

"ARGH!" Orion cried running a hand through his unspiked hair.

"Look son" Oliver said his tone changing to gentle one "I need you to understand. I know you care about Maya but this is important. Try to put aside your personal feelings and take into consideration the kids that were taken, that's what the league is about. I need you to understand that Maya is crucial to finding out where the kids might be kept and what Lex is using them for. She was the only one who could qualify for the scholarship and she's the perfect candidate".

"I know dad, I know" Orion replied with a sigh, running his hand a bit more forcefully through his hair this time.

"Look just be supportive of her, she's already feeling edgy about this. I don't need you to make this worse for her ok?" Oliver said.

"Ok dad, I'm sorry I lost my head there for a second. I'm just worried about her I guess" he replied and when Harlan let go of Lois, the five year old ran up to her brother and hugged him around the legs.

"It's ok Orrie" she whispered "Maya will be ok".

"I hope you're right Lo, I really hope you're right" he replied as he bent down to hug his sister.

* * *

"Hey Maya wait up" Orion called as he caught sight of her familiar head walking out of her last class for the day. She didn't seem to have heard him but even if she did, she pretended not to hear.

"Maya" he puffed when he reached her and she looked at him emotionlessly.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" he asked bluntly.

"I haven't" she lied and he could tell, she always bit on her bottom lip when she was lying.

"Yes you have, and don't lie because you're biting your bottom lip the way you always do when you're lying to someone" he replied.

"Look Orion what do you want? I have to go, Terry's giving me a ride" she said. Orion's face fell slightly but he plastered a fake smile on his face.

"Sure, I'll make this quick then shall I?" he asked. "Look I know about you working for Lex so you don't have to avoid me ok?"

She looked up sharply at him. "You- you know?" she asked.

"I know" he replied. "So please don't avoid me ok? I'm fine with it. I just want you to be careful alright?" he asked.

She nodded and replied with an "ok".

"Dad also wanted me to give this to you" he said handing her the communicator ring and an ear piece. "This is from me, it's an invention of mine that will help us see everything you do" he said and handed her a necklace with a heart shaped pendant. "The diamante in the middle of the heart is actually a camera" he said and she nodded.

"Thanks" came the reply.

"Look Maya about the other night, I"-

"Forget it Orion, I've already forgotten about it" she replied.

"But I"- A horn blared close by and a black Lamborghini stopped a little distance away.

"Come on Maya, we have to get going" Terry called when the window wound down.

"I'm coming" she called back. "Look I've got to go" she replied "I'll talk to you later?" she asked and she turned around to walk away. She stopped in her tracks a second later and turned to look at him. "You cut your hair a bit shorter" she remarked "and you didn't spike it up either" she added with a smile. "It's looks good, I like it" she said and with a smile she made her way back to the car.

Orion grinned and ran a hand through his hair. "She likes it" he said to himself "she LIKES it!!"

"What are you raving about?" Harlan asked coming to stand beside her brother.

"Oh nothing" Orion replied.

"So I take it that your little meeting with Maya went well?" she asked.

"Definitely" he replied and ran a hand through his hair again "oh most definitely".

"Come on lover boy, let's go home" she remarked and pulled her brother along with her.

Unknown to them, a figure hidden in the shadows, had been watching and listening to the twins' conversation feeling very pleased indeed.

* * *

Oliver raked a hand through his hair. "Ok Maya" he said slowly. "I want you to take a deep breath. It's going to be alright, I promise".

"I know Uncle Ollie, I'm fine" her voice drifted over the speakers in the league control room.

"Ok I want you to be careful when you enter the building, don't say anything ok? They may have equipment that can pick up on what you say. Plus on the hidden cameras it's going to look weird if you talk to yourself" he replied earning a weak laugh from her.

Orion sat in the corner of the control room. He wasn't usually allowed in the control room and neither was Harlan, but Oliver had agreed that if they were going to be a part of the league the best way to learn would be through observation. The only other league members in the room besides Oliver and his son were Bart and AC. Only because these two usually didn't have anything else to do so they spent most of their time in the control room.

"I'm going in now Uncle Ollie, I'll speak to you again when the coast is clear" Maya whispered.

"Alright Maya, good luck" he replied and glanced at the plasma projector screen that was currently showing the glass doors to Luthor corp.

"That's it?" Orion asked getting up from his seat. "So what do we do now?"

"Now" Oliver replied with a grim smile, "we wait".

* * *

"Miss Stone?" A pretty brunette woman asked as she exited Lex's office.

"Yes" Maya nodded.

"Mr. Luthor will see you now" she said.

"Thank you" Maya said standing up. She had changed into her black knee length work skirt and a crisp white blouse. She knocked twice before entering Lex's office.

"Come in" he called and she entered forcing down the butterflies in her stomach. He didn't pay her any attention, his head was bent and he was busying himself with his paperwork.

"Good afternoon Mr. Luthor, I'm Maya Stone the new intern" she greeted.

"Good afternoon M"- He said trailing off as he looked up. Upon seeing her, he smiled. "Good afternoon Maya" he greeted.

"Sir you wanted to see me?" she asked.

"Oh yes, yes I did. You'll be my personal assistant so you will be attending to my every need" he replied again smiling that eerie smile of his.

"What exactly will I be doing sir?" she asked.

"Oh, everything" he replied focusing his attention on her.

"I see sir" she replied.

"You will be handling my meeting schedules and my daily itinerary is that clear?" he asked.

"Yes sir" she replied. "Is there anything you'd like me to do at the moment sir?" she asked.

"Yes there is something I would like you to do for me. Could you get me the Dawson file from the cabinet over there, it's in the drawer right at the bottom" he said pointing to a cabinet in the corner of the room.

"Oh yes sure no problem" she replied and bent down to retrieve his files from the cabinet. "Sorry Mr. Luthor but I don't see the Dawson file anywhere" she replied looking around.

"Try the next cabinet" he suggested and she moved to look for the file in the next cabinet while unknown to her, Lex Luthor was staring at her rear end.

"Sorry Mr. Luthor I don't think the Dawson file is in here" she called and turned around to find him looking away quickly.

"That's alright I must have misplaced it" he replied and she raised an eyebrow.

"No problem Mr. Luthor, is there anything you'd like me to do?" she asked.

"Please Maya, call me Lex. I've asked Melinda to bring another desk into my office. You'll do your work right here with me" he replied and she forced a smile.

"Sure Mr. Lu- I mean Lex" she replied with another forced smile.

She took a seat on the couch in his office and waited patiently. It wasn't long, before the pretty brunette woman who'd called Maya earlier appeared.

"Mr. Luthor the men are ready to bring in the new desk" she said looking at Lex.

"Sure Melinda bring it in" he replied and Maya watched as the men brought in the desk and a new office chair and placed it in the large space opposite Lex's desk.

She gulped and swallowed down her nerves. It looked like she would be spending a lot of time with Lex. She could hear the sharp intakes of breath through her ear piece, coming from the league members back at the control tower.

"Maya" Oliver said through her ear piece "we've hacked into the room's CCTV cameras I know you can't really do anything now but please if you get the opportunity try and scan the place a little".

"Ok" she whispered and covered it up with a cough.

"Are you alright there Maya?" Lex asked looking at her.

"Yes I'm fine" she replied with a small smile and with a nod he went back to his work, glancing at her occasionally.

When she finished work she made her way down the main steps of the Luthorcorp building and to her surprise she found a good looking guy leaning against his car. He was wearing black jeans, a plain white t-shirt and a black leather jacket. His belt buckle was an eagle with its wings spread out and it sat on the hips of his low rise jeans. His dark hair was pulled into a stub of a pony tail and although she couldn't see his face because it was bent downwards with bangs falling into his eyes, she knew he was good looking. Her father was supposed to pick her up but it looked like he was late. Just as she was about to walk past the good looking guy, he raised his head.

"Hey Maya" he said with a smile.

"Orion?" she asked, her jaw dropping slightly. Her cheeks colored when she realized that all this time she had been checking out Orion without knowing it was him. "Err…Not to be rude or anything but what are you doing here?" she asked.

"My mum sent me to get you" he replied. "She said your mum's busy and your dad's over at our house checking up on stuff".

"Oh" she said realizing that by stuff, he meant league business.

"I'm giving you a ride back" he replied and she smiled at him.

* * *

Oliver raked a hand through his hair, Lex was making things difficult. He was keeping Maya close so that he could keep an eye on her and was making it practically impossible for her to do any poking around. The helplessness that had never before been an obstacle was now hanging over Oliver's head like a rain cloud. He'd never felt like this before and it was killing him. The fact that those kids were out there alone made him feel absolutely horrible. The fact that he couldn't do anything about it was what made things even worse.

The door to the control room opened and Chloe entered looking serious. "Ollie we need to get those kids back" she said.

"I know" he sighed "it just takes time".

"You'll find them I know you will" she said and hugged him.

"Thanks" he replied "you don't know how comforting it is hearing it from you".

"Don't stress Ollie it'll be ok" she soothed rubbing his back.

"Dad" Orion acknowledged as he came into the room with Maya in tow.

"Hey dad" Maya greeted as Victor hurried over to his daughter to say hello. "Hey aunt Chloe, Uncle Ollie" she greeted and sat down tiredly in a chair. Almost at once Bart was at her side with a drink.

"Thanks Uncle Bart" she replied.

"You're welcome Chiquita" he replied with a warm smile.

"Maya did you manage to look for anything while you were there?" Oliver asked.

"Dad" Orion interjected "it was her first time there".

"Its fine", Maya said. "I wasn't allowed to leave the office, he didn't let me out of his sight" she replied woefully.

"Don't worry about it" Orion said before anyone could say anything "when you do get the chance though, just see what you can find".

"Yes" Oliver agreed as he looked at his son while Maya leant back into her chair.

* * *

A week had passed before Maya was finally able to poke around. Lex had left the office to meet a business associate, leaving Maya to finish up some of the paperwork.

"I'll be back soon Maya" he said and he made his way out the door.

"Uncle Ollie" she whispered.

"Yes Maya I'm here" he replied through her ear piece.

"I'm going to look around; Lex has gone out for a bit".

"Ok wait a second I'm getting your dad to hack into the system to replay the earlier footage of you doing your work over the current CCTV footage so that you can look around safely. Alright done, you're free to move around. I'll get Bart to keep an eye on Lex for you. We'll warn you if he comes back. Just talk me through what you're looking at".

"Ok I'm looking through the drawers at the moment, oh my god" Maya exclaimed as she took out a sheet of paper from the second drawer.

"What? What happened?" Oliver asked.

"He's been shipping in large quantities of green meteor rock and the shipments have been delivered straight to his house" She replied looking through the paperwork.

"So what you're saying is that Lex has been ordering green meteor rocks for his personal use? But what for?" he asked.

"Not sure, it doesn't say anything else" she replied and put the paper back.

"Ok I need you get into his computer and pull up some"-

"Wait Uncle Ollie, something's not right" she replied looking around the room.

"What? What do you mean?" he asked.

"I was just thinking about it and this room looks much bigger on the outside but on the inside it's much smaller" she replied.

"So you're suggesting that he has a hidden room?" Oliver asked.

"Well I'm guessing so because there's about a meter and a half of excess wall from the outside that doesn't tally up with the inside space".

"So that means that there's probably a lever or something" Oliver told her.

"I'm looking" she said and searched around. Then it hit her, there was a large bookcase behind Lex's desk. It seemed like a good cover for a hidden room.

"You think the hidden room is behind the book case?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah" she replied "and I'm guessing that one of these books is the lever or something, it always happens like that in movies. The only thing is, I'm not sure which one of these books is the one".

"Try that book over there, corporate worlds revealed" Oliver suggested scanning the books on the monitor in the control room. Maya pulled the book and it came cleanly out of the shelf.

"Nope, nothing" she replied with a sigh. "Wow this invention of Orion's seems really useful doesn't it? So you can really see everything that I see?" she asked.

"Yes" Oliver replied "wait what about that book over there" he suggested referring to an old, worn out looking book.

"You mean this old looking book over here?" Maya asked pointing at the book.

"Yeah that one" he said.

"Ok here goes" she said and pulled on the book.

"Nothing on this one either" she said as she pulled the book from the shelf.

A few more unsuccessful tries later and Oliver was getting impatient. "This is frustrating!" he exclaimed. "How're we going to find out which book opens the book case when nothing stands out, they're all corporate books!" he exclaimed.

"Hmmm…" Maya said thoughtfully scanning the bookshelves. "All except that one" she replied as she walked closer to a book that seemed to be the odd one out.

"Frankenstein?" Oliver asked incredulously. "Well that would certainly be the story of Lex so I'm guessing that's the key".

"Maya, you don't have time to look, Lex is coming back" Bart warned and Maya quickly put back the books she'd pulled out before and scrambled to her desk just in time.

"How did your meeting go Mr. Lu- Lex?" she asked conversationally.

"It didn't go well at all" he replied sourly.

"Err…why not?" She asked.

"Because the bastard now wants me to pay him much higher than was agreed upon" he replied.

"Oh I see" she said and they fell into silence. Maya didn't say anything more but left Lex seething on his own about his rotten meeting.

* * *

Back at the control tower Bart had just arrived after a 'short trip' to India for some authentic Indian food.

"So who did Lex meet with?" Oliver asked Bart.

"Well I couldn't really tell but this dude looked seriously weird man. I mean he was dressed all in black with some kind of leather trench coat and this weird combat boots" Bart replied looking thoughtful.

"Hey Ollie" Chloe said as she entered the control tower with little Lois in tow.

"Daddy" she squealed and latched herself onto his leg then moved onto her god father.

"Did you bring me back anything from India?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes my dear god daughter I did" he replied with a grin as he carried her. He handed her a little elephant carved from wood. The elephant was painted black with intricate designs on it.

"Ooh an elephant!" she exclaimed "thanks Uncle Bart, you're the best god father ever!" She gave him a little kiss on the cheek and he colored slightly.

"Aww thanks Lo" Bart replied bashfully. Victor and Oliver stared at him with eyebrows raised. "What?" he asked "didn't you hear what she said? She said I'm the best god father ever!"

"Yeah, yeah we heard" Oliver replied rolling his eyes skyward.

"Anyway we just wanted to say hello and see how you boys were doing. Oh and Ollie don't forget we've got to take Lois shopping later" Chloe added looking at her husband.

"Shopping?" Oliver asked. "What for?"

"Well I hope you didn't forget but she's got Asher's sixth birthday to attend to in a couple of days and she wants a new party dress" Chloe replied with a smile.

"Oh yes now I remember" Oliver replied and then for a moment he forgot who Asher was and then he realized that Asher was AC's five soon to be six year old son.

"AC's got him for the week so he thought that a party might be a good idea" Chloe replied.

"Yeah sure, just come and call me later when we're about to leave" Oliver said and Chloe picked Lois up and they walked out of the room.

"Did you get a look at the guys face?" Victor asked Bart who shook his head regretfully.

"No, sorry I wasn't able to get closer to Lex without him spotting me" Bart replied. "Although I did manage to see some fine senoritas sitting at the next table" he added with a dreamy smile and Victor whacked him on the back of the head.

"Focus!" Victor barked and Bart shot him a glare and rubbed the back of his head tenderly.

"I'll show you"- Bart began but before anyone could find out just what exactly Bart was going to show Victor, Maya walked into the room looking exhausted followed by Orion.

"Hello all" she greeted.

"Hey Maya feeling tired?" Oliver asked kindly, why don't you go and take a nap in Harlan's room?" he suggested.

"Sure I'll do that, call me when you're done ok dad?" she said turning to her father.

Once Maya left Bart turned to Victor "how's she been doing? I mean it's been a week since she got the job at Luthorcorp, how's she coping?"

"To be honest, I'm not really sure" Victor replied. Kat and I hardly see her. She's always working or doing some useless errand for Lex".

"She looks exhausted" Oliver remarked.

"By the way, where's Harlan?" Bart asked "I was supposed to see her about this new invention she's working on".

"She's not here" Oliver replied "in fact, come to think of it; I haven't seen her much lately. I think she's at Xander's place" he replied his face darkening slightly.

* * *

Maya walked into Harlan's room and flopped down on her couch. It was not as comfortable as a bed would have been but it would have to do. She tried to make herself a bit more comfortable. The keyword here being, tried. She wriggled around trying to find the right position and before she knew it, she had landed on the parquet floor bottom first.

"Maya?" Orion asked looking curiously at her. He was carrying a cup of coffee in his hand and the expression on his face reminded her of Chloe.

"Yeah" she replied getting up and rubbing her sore backside.

Orion cleared his throat uneasily "what are you doing here?"

"I was trying to take a nap" she replied looking annoyed "till my dad finishes".

"Oh right, sorry" he replied sheepishly "why don't you sleep on the bed? I'm sure its way more comfortable than the couch".

"Nah its ok I don't mind" she replied looking at Harlan's neatly made up bed. Orion sat down at his desk and Maya stiffened.

"Err…you're going to stay here?" she asked looking slightly mortified.

"Yeah, why? I'm just going to do some homework. Is there a problem?" he asked politely.

"Err…no, no there isn't" she replied hastily and turned around to face the inside of the couch.

He laughed to himself as he saw her squirming uneasily on the couch. So he was making Maya nervous, interesting. He knew she'd dozed off because short while later, her breathing became even and she was snoring softly. He grinned to himself and went back to his English.

* * *

Oliver relaxed as Chloe put her arms around him from behind and burrowed her face in his neck. He was in the master bedroom and was about to change into some casual clothing.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yeah almost" she replied and placed a kiss on his neck. Oliver felt a sudden throbbing pulse through his head and nearly groaned. It was happening again.

_Oliver stood at the entrance to St Andrews Cathedral. His parents had gotten married at the very same cathedral. It was tradition that the sons of the Queen family had to get married at St Andrews Cathedral. Oliver's great-great-great grandfather had helped to build the cathedral and so it was important to the Queen family._

_Guest after guest strolled in wearing their best, expressing their well wishes and congratulations. _

"_Hey Ollie, how are you holding up?" Bruce asked as he came to stand in front of Oliver._

"_Oh hey Bruce, to be honest I'm as nervous as hell and I don't even know why"._

"_Well it's only natural to feel this way Ollie" Bruce remarked placing a hand on Oliver's shoulder._

"_By the way shouldn't you be getting ready?" Oliver asked his friend._

"_Well I may be part of the groomsmen but you've got a starring role" Bruce replied "you're the one who needs to get ready"._

"_I'm as ready as can be" Oliver shot back. "Now where are the other idiots that are meant to be here?"_

"_Keep your pants on Ollie we're here" Victor announced as he approached the billionaire. Behind Victor, Bart and AC were having an animated conversation about AC's choice of wearing a tuxedo made of black dyed paper while Clark looked on wearily._

"_I'm telling you fish sticks, no matter how much your saving the earth you really look like you decided to pad yourself with cow dung" Bart exclaimed._

"_Excuse me midget dude, you're destroying the environment while I'm preserving it!" AC replied indignantly._

"_Listen fish food" Bart said looking annoyed. "I'm telling you it's a bad idea to wear a suit made out of paper. Think of it this way, if those candles"- he pointed to a candelabrum by the front of the church "accidentally fall on you, you're going to end up served on a silver platter with side dishes of grilled vegetables and mashed potato"._

"_I see your point dwarf man but this is"- AC broke off as Clark nudged them._

"_Guys it's almost time, we have to go" Clark said and pushed both Bart and AC from behind._

"_Aww dude, your ripped a hole on the left butt cheek of my suit" AC groaned as he glared accusingly at Clark._

"_I didn't do anything" Clark replied looking miffed._

"_I mean dude, this is a suit made out of paper, the slightest touch can cause the greatest amount of damage" AC retorted with a death glare._

"_Please tell me you're wearing something underneath" Bart pleaded to a divine power._

"_Err…" AC replied, his cheeks coloring as an old lady behind him gave a horrified gasp._

"_Oh god" Clark replied smacking himself on the head._

"_I'll be right back, I'll get the suit Ollie originally got for him" Bart said looking at Clark and then glaring accusingly at AC once again. Ollie the family man laughed as he looked on at his friends and then made his way to stand at his place before the altar._

Oliver felt a little dizzy as the scene changed before his eyes. He was now standing at the front of the church in front of the priest looking determined.

"_Are you ready for this?" Bruce asked from his position on Ollie's left._

"_Yes most definitely" he replied and his gaze was drawn to the back of the church as Pachabell's cannon in D began to play from the live string quartet hidden in the wings. His breath caught in his throat as he saw her gliding down the aisle accompanied by her father, with an effortless grace._

_Oliver could actually feel his doppelganger 'Ollie the family man's' heart swelling with an emotion that he could only assume was an euphoric, ecstatic elation. "God she's beautiful" Oliver thought to himself as he stood a little distance away from Ollie the family man. Oliver tuned out as he watched 'himself' and Chloe. They looked so blissful, so at peace with one another that in a way it comforted him. He only jolted back to reality when it was time for the 'I do's'._

_He looked at the five other league members standing beside him, in descending order of age. The line started with Ollie then followed by Bruce, then Victor, then AC, then Clark and finally Bart. They were all smiling at each other with what could be described as genuine happiness for their leader. _

_Oliver watched as Ollie the family man kissed his bride and then they made their way down the aisle accompanied by a shower of white rose petals. It was only now that Oliver was able to slowly understand why he ended up with Chloe. They were so comfortable with each other that even he was shocked. In all his years Oliver Jonas Queen had never really been truly comfortable with a woman. He'd come really close with Dinah or so he thought._

"_Wait!" he thought frantically as the picture blurred before his eyes "I haven't seen enough! I want to see more!" _It was too late, the picture dissolved before him and he found himself standing in his enormous bedroom with Chloe's arms around him. He practically groaned out aloud in frustration. He needed to see more, he wanted to know how he fell in love with Chloe.

"Ollie, are you ok? You were mumbling something. Is everything alright?" Chloe asked placing her slender hands on his cheeks.

"Yes I'm fine" he replied with a smile, looking at her fondly. They were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door and Orion entered looking at his parents with an eyebrow raised.

Chloe immediately dropped her hands from Oliver's cheeks and he withdrew the hand that had unconsciously snaked around her waist.

"That's better" Orion remarked.

"Did you want something?" Oliver asked irritably.

"No, not really" Orion replied casually flopping down onto the couch in the corner.

"Then why are you here?" Oliver snapped unable to keep the irritation from his voice.

"Well I just thought you should know that Lois has fallen asleep" he remarked indifferently.

"Fallen asleep?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, she's in Harlan's half of the room" Orion replied.

"What was she doing there?" Chloe asked looking bewildered.

"You'll see" Orion remarked as he led his parents out of their room.

When Oliver and Chloe got to Harlan's side of the enormous room that she shared with her twin, they were puzzled to find Lois curled up on the couch beside Maya who was wide awake.

"Err…How did this happen?" Oliver asked. Lois was burrowed into Maya's side with one arm thrown over the older girl's neck hugging Maya tightly. Lois's little blonde head was nestled comfortable in the crook of Maya's upper arm.

"She came in when I had just awoken and refused to let me go" Maya replied and two bright spots of pink appeared in her cheeks.

"Why?" Chloe asked looking curious.

"Err…" Maya trailed off.

"Lois said that Maya couldn't leave until she married me" Orion remarked. "So she decided to hold Maya hostage in a way, by not letting her get up from the couch".

"Oh" was all Chloe said.

"Come on sleepy head" Oliver called as he gently shook his youngest daughter awake "time for you to get up".

"No!" Lois protested without opening her eyes and burrowed herself further into Maya's side.

"Lois" Oliver called warningly.

"I'm not getting up. Maya has to marry Orrie and have lots of babies! I have to be an auntie! I have to! I have to daddy! I have to! I want a little niece that looks like me and a little nephew that looks like me too!" she wailed.

"Alright, Lois" Oliver replied soothingly.

"They will get married honey it just takes time" Chloe told her youngest daughter and Maya and Orion gawked at her. "Just play along" she whispered to them.

"What? Oh! Oh yes, Maya and I will definitely get married Lois, don't you worry about that" Orion replied.

"What??" Maya shrieked but after a wild look from Orion she caught on quickly. "Oh yes, definitely Lois. Your brother and I are going to get married for sure" she agreed.

"Really?" Lois asked sniffling slightly.

"Yes, really" Orion replied as he picked Lois up. "Isn't that right Maya?" he asked turning to the caramel skinned girl beside him.

"What?? Oh yes. That's right" she replied nodding her head.

"What about the babies?" Lois asked with another sniffle, leaning back in her brothers arms to stare into his face.

"Babies?" Maya asked looking horrified.

"Oh yes of course there will be babies, plenty of babies. At least ten!" Orion exclaimed with vigor.

Maya turned pale "o-of c-c-course" she replied as Lois looked at her.

"YAY!" the five year old cheered.

"Come on" Oliver called with a laugh as she made a beeline for him when Orion had set her down.

Lois walked out of the room humming a happy tune. If Maya and Orion had seen the little girls face, they would have noticed that her tears had suddenly disappeared from her face and her lips were now set in a triumphant smile.

"You're evil you know that?" Oliver told his daughter as he, Chloe and Lois exited the twins' room.

"I know" the little girl replied as she skipped alongside him.

Oliver looked at Chloe feeling slightly abashed. "Don't look at me" his wife replied "she gets that from you".

"So are we ready to go and get your party dress for Asher's birthday party?" Oliver asked.

"I think it's better if we go tomorrow daddy" Lois replied with a yawn. "I'm kind of tired now".

Oliver watched half amused and half confused as his daughter skipped off in the direction of her pink bedroom. He was being put to shame. Imagine that, his five year old doing more to get Orion and Maya together that he was. Unbelievable.

* * *

"Wow that sister of yours is really something isn't she?" Maya remarked once Lois and her parents had left the room.

"You can say that again" Orion replied with a laugh "sometimes she's worse than my mum".

"Are you serious?" Maya asked looking surprised.

"Yeah I'm serious" he replied "she's always lecturing me". He put on a high pitched voice "Orrie you have to save electricity, you have to put the toilet seat down, you have to finish your vegetables, you can't swear, you can't be rude to Harley…blah, blah, blah".

Maya laughed "wow Lois is really something".

"Oh you have no idea" Orion replied. "The other day she made me have a tea party with her dolls and she made me take care of Molly, her baby doll. She said it would prepare me for fatherhood so that when I do have a kid, I won't be a total idiot".

"Serious?" Maya asked laughing.

"Yeah, dead serious" he replied "I'm telling you Maya, she's like the Gestapo or something. She even lectured me on how to treat women, can you believe that?" Orion asked and Maya burst out into gales of laughter. He stared at her for a while "why are you with him Maya?" he asked suddenly and she immediately stopped laughing.

"Sorry?" she asked looking confused.

"Why are you with Chase?" he asked.

"Because…"

"He's not right for you Maya. You need someone who understands you and knows you. The guy knows nothing about you".

"Of course he knows me" she shot back looking a little offended.

"He doesn't really know you. I mean could you honestly be with a guy who doesn't know about the league and you're part in it?" Orion asked seriously.

"I don't know what you mean" she replied dismissively and began to gather her things.

"Chase is a superficial guy, you're only with him for the sake of being with him" Orion remarked. "Sure you like the guy but that's as far as it goes, I can tell. You don't have any deep or feelings for him".

"I don't know what you're talking about" Maya snapped back, when actually she did. What Orion was saying made perfect sense to her.

"Listen to me Maya; you're not going to be happy if you stay in a relationship with him. You're just going to be lying to yourself" he said. "I just want you to be happy".

"What makes you think I'm not happy with Chase?" she snapped.

"Are you?" he asked looking at her curiously.

"How dare you! And who the hell do you think you are my shrink or something?" she asked angrily. "And what makes you think you know so much about me anyway?"

"I know you Maya, I know what you need and you deserve someone better than Chase" he replied.

"Someone better than Chase?" She asked and gave a sarcastic laugh "what? Someone like you?" and with those words, she stalked out of the room seething.

"Yeah someone like me" Orion replied to an empty room.

* * *

It was nearly midnight when Maya stood outside Chase's house. She'd called him earlier but he was busy so he told her to come by around eleven thirty. She'd been waiting for about ten minutes when a black sports car pulled into the driveway. She didn't want to admit it but Orion's words had struck a chord somewhere inside of her. If she was going to be honest with herself she had to realize that she and Chase were going no where. In fact over the past few weeks they barely saw each other. In the beginning it was nice, but then again the early stages of a relationship were always like that. Things seemed to just trail off from there. She was always too busy working and Chase was always too busy doing whatever it was that he was doing. It was pointless staying in the relationship.

"Maya what are you doing out here? It's freezing! Why didn't you wait for me inside?" Chase asked as he got down from the car.

"It's ok" she replied.

"Anyway I'm glad to see you" he said and kissed her.

"Chase" she said pulling away from him.

"Maya is something wrong?" he asked and she looked away.

"We need to talk" she said.

"Ok" Chase replied and they sat down on the front steps.

"I think we should break up" Maya said bluntly.

"What?" he exclaimed "why?"

"I just don't think we're going anywhere" she replied "I mean I like you and all"-

"I like you too Maya so what's the problem?" he interrupted.

"I just don't think liking each other is enough" she said.

"You're not thinking straight" he said. "Maybe you should go back and take some time to think about this. You should take a week or so to get your head around this" he said.

"I've already thought about it a lot Chase and I think this is the best decision" she replied firmly.

"You can't be serious" he exclaimed frantically.

"I am, sorry Chase" she replied and began to walk down the steps.

"Its Orion isn't it?" Chase asked in a dangerous whisper and she stopped. "You're breaking up with me because of Orion Queen aren't you?" he asked. "You love him". It wasn't a question or a remark but rather, Chase seemed to be stating a fact that he'd finally realized.

"No it's not Orion" she replied calmly "The decision to break up with you was solely my own". Without looking back she walked away.

"Maya come back, you can't go" he called after her but she carried on walking. He jogged after her, trying to coax her out of her decision. Finally with a desperate burst he yelled out "I love you Maya".

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at him. "You don't love me Chase, you only think you do" she replied. "And let's be honest with each other here, you barely know me and I barely know you".

"I know who you are" he said earnestly. "You're Maya Stone".

"Yeah maybe you know who I am on the outside but you don't know what's underneath" she said and with a final nod of her head, she walked away from him.

Chase stood staring after her, a twisted expression fixed on his face. Little did Maya know that her decision to break up with Chase would have its consequences.

* * *

Chase stared into the distance, watching as Maya's SUV pulled out of the driveway. He could feel the effects of the medication that he'd taken that morning wearing off. With a feral grin he yanked off one of the lamps on the short concrete pillars that decorated his family's garden. _So the little bitch thinks she can just break up with me. Does she know who I fucking am? I'm Chase Blaine! And girls don't break up with Chase Blaine; Chase Blaine breaks up with them! I'll teach the little whore a lesson she'll never forget. She doesn't know who she's messing with. Maya my precious you'll be mine! _And with that final thought he grabbed a fallen tree branch from the ground and hurled it at his car shattering the windscreen_. _With a maniacal laugh, he went into the house.

_

* * *

_

**Authors note**: Hello my darlings sorry I haven't updated in a while…I've been soooo busy!! Sorry to keep you guys hanging like that…Chase's character is a lot deeper than I've let on, so there's more that you need to watch out for…his true personality isn't really known so you'll just have to guess what he's liked…once again if you have any ideas for a cookie that you'd like to read please let me know…oooh and I know the wedding scene is kind of short but I needed it to be that way…anyway take care and please review! It would make my day so much more awesome! Thanks guys! Huggies!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing

**Chapter 9**

By Monday everyone knew that Maya had broken up with Chase and it became a hot topic, even in the Queen household.

"So" Chloe asked over breakfast "Maya broke up with Chase eh?"

"Yeah" Orion replied glumly.

"You don't sound too happy" Oliver remarked.

"Meh" Orion replied absently.

"What kind of response is that?" Lois asked as she wrinkled her nose at him.

"Morning everyone" Harlan sang as she entered the dining room.

"Well at least someone seems fairly happy today" Chloe remarked as a beaming Harlan sat down at her usual seat.

"It's a lovely day and the sun is shining" Harlan responded and Oliver looked at her.

"I know a lot of kids now days are into drugs" he remarked as Harlan looked at him. "Are you on drugs Harley?" he asked looking at her suspiciously.

"What? Dad! No! I'm not on drugs, I'm just happy" she replied.

"What's drugs daddy?" Lois asked as she spooned some cereal into her mouth.

"Err…" Oliver faltered and looked to Chloe for help.

"Its medicine baby" Chloe said with a glare in Oliver's direction.

"Well anyway" Harlan said "I'm not on drugs, I'm just happy. And I have to go to school now so I'll see you later oh wonderful family of mine" she replied and abandoning her breakfast, she stood up and walked out the door.

"I had better be going" Orion said standing up.

"Wait why is everyone going? I thought we were all going to have breakfast together?" Oliver asked and Orion merely gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry dad, I would love to but I've got to go to school" he replied.

"I guess it's just us then" Oliver announced looking at Chloe, Carl and Lois.

"Sorry daddy I have to go too" Lois exclaimed climbing off her chair. "I have a date with Mr. Spongebob Squarepants" she said and she bounced out of the dining room humming the tune of the wretched cartoon as she went.

Oliver looked at Chloe "I feel so rejected" he exclaimed.

"Well, you always have me" Chloe offered and he smiled. He knew he did.

* * *

Orion walked into the cafeteria and spotted Maya. She was seated by herself at one of the tables since she wasn't welcome at Chase's table anymore. She seemed to be engrossed in a book that she was reading.

"Maya" he said as he stood before her table.

"Oh hello Orion" she said casually ignoring the evil eyes and glares that were being thrown her way.

"Err…are you ok?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah, whatever" she replied and went back to her book

"Why'd you break up with Chase?" he asked softly as he sat down opposite her.

She stared at him as he sat down. "Aren't you going to sit with your friends?"

"I am sitting with my friend" he replied back and she smiled at him.

"Yeah but I mean, your other friends?" she asked.

"Nah, they can wait. Besides you're more important right now" he replied and before Maya had a chance to ask him what he meant they were graced by another's presence.

"Man" Harlan sighed as she slid into a seat beside her brother.

"What's up with you" he asked.

"Boys get so emotional when you break up with them" Harlan remarked and Maya stared at her.

"Did you?"- She trailed off, afraid to ask her question.

"Yes" Harlan replied dramatically "I broke up with Xander, oh how tragic for him. Nah don't worry about it. He'll get over it. I know I have" she remarked.

"But why?" Maya asked "didn't you like him?"

"Yeah I did at first, and then he got kind of boring. Plus he never seemed to have time for me. I've set my sights on better men" Harlan replied dreamily. "Preferably those that have black hair".

Maya and Orion stared at her, blinking dumbly. "Err…Harley, are you sure you're not on drugs?" Orion asked and she turned to look at him.

"Oh shut up about the drugs already" she snapped and with a huff she picked up her bag and left.

"She broke up with Xander?" Maya asked looking at Orion quizzically "didn't see that one coming".

"Neither did I" he replied looking at the direction that his sister had gone in.

* * *

Oliver grinned broadly as Lois ran down the stairs and collided into his legs. "Hello daddy!" she greeted smiling at him.

"Hello Lo, all ready to go? Where's mommy?" he asked.

"I'm here" Chloe replied as she made her way down the staircase.

Oliver's breath hitched in his throat as he caught sight of Chloe in a simple summer dress. She was beautiful.

"Yay mommy's here!" Lois squealed.

"Alright you" Chloe said with a laugh "let's go and get that dress for Asher's birthday party.

"Can I get a really frilly one? In pink?" she asked peering at her mother hopefully.

"Alright baby" Chloe replied with a laugh.

"Let's try to keep the dress simple, I don't want young boys at Asher's party to get the wrong idea" Oliver whispered to Chloe and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Ollie, she's just a kid".

"Who's growing up way to fast" he shot back.

* * *

Harlan stood before the front door of her godfather's humongous mansion. She wasn't sure why she had made up some excuse about needing to check the engine of the bat mobile. She had been doing it a lot recently, since the day of the dance. Perhaps she was losing her mind. She wondered briefly if a certain black haired someone might be around.

"Uncle Bruce" she said cheerfully when her godfather answered the door.

"Hey Harley come on in" he said cheerfully and she walked in after him.

As soon as she entered, she was met with the sight of a tousle haired Terry coming down the stairs. Her breath hitched in her throat when she realized that he was bare bodied, wearing only black silk pajama pants.

"Hey" Terry greeted casually and Harlan felt her heart beat faster. What the hell was happening?

"Hey" Harlan replied trying to sound indifferent but she was failing horribly. She loved the way that his hair stuck out on all ends. It made her want to smile, like a lovesick fool.

He looked a little more tired than the time she had last seen him. It was strange; Harlan had never felt drawn to any guy before. Yet somehow, after their conversation at the dance, she felt the strong pull towards him. When she first found out why Terry had broken up with Maya, she had been speechless. She'd come across many guys but none seemed to exude the same maturity and the same compassion that Terry had.

She had started liking him when she'd found out the reason behind his break up with Maya He hadn't intended to break Maya's hear, in fact, he'd intended to save it. Terry had known all along that Maya held strong feelings for Orion. He wasn't stupid or blind for that matter. He noticed how she subconsciously talked about him all the time or how her face lit up whenever she did. She seemed to think about him all the time. In all honesty Terry felt that although Orion wasn't physically present, he seemed to hang over their heads like a raincloud.

Terry had thought that if he broke up with Maya, she'd realize her love for Orion. He just wanted her to be happy. Maya hadn't understood at the time, she had spent the whole while thinking that they'd broken up because of her. However, Maya had always felt that one could never hate someone that they once loved; as a result their friendship had remained intact and unspoiled. Although Terry still loved Maya, all he wanted was to see her happy and even he knew that she'd be happiest with Orion. The little spat that Terry had with Orion during the dance was due to Terry wanting to rile Orion up. Terry just wanted Orion to see what was in front of him. In a way Orion was lucky. He had everything he needed right in front of him; all he had to do was to open his eyes.

Hearing of Terry's sacrifice of his own happiness for Maya's had made Harlan question her own bleak relationship with Xander. There seemed to be no excitement in their relationship. He hardly spent time with her and she hardly spent time with him. The funniest part was that it didn't seem to bother her. It was like she couldn't have cared less if Xander was part of her life or not, this resulted in their break up which only relieved Harlan. Looking at Terry, she felt her face warming. He was exactly the type of guy that she was entranced by. He seemed to captivate her just by merely sitting there. He caught her eye and smiled and inwardly she melted into a pile of mush. There was no doubt about it she was definitely falling for Terry Wayne.

* * *

Orion pulled out of the School's car park that afternoon to find Maya walking down the gravel path with a sour expression on her face.

"Hey Maya, what's wrong?" he asked, rolling down the window of his BMW.

"Oh hey O, there's something wrong with my car so it looks like I need to catch a cab to work or ask Uncle Clark to pick me or something" she replied.

"Well I could give you a lift" he offered and her face lit up in a smile.

"Could you? Oh I would be forever grateful!"

"Sure no problem, hop in" he said and she got into the front passenger seat.

"Where's Harley?" Maya hadn't seen Harlan around for a couple of days; her friend had been majorly busy with work and school that they hadn't found the time to hang out.

"Not quite sure to be honest, she's been out a lot recently but I don't really know where she's been going" he replied.

It took five silent minutes before Maya arrived outside the Luthor Corp building. She sat in the car and angled her torso slightly to face Orion.

"Thanks for the lift O, I really appreciate it"

"No problem, any time" he replied.

Just as Maya's hand reached for the door handle Orion reached out and grabbed her hand. "O?" she asked, her eyes shifting from his hand to his face.

"Maya, there's something I've been wanting to tell you and I"- He broke off, using his free hand to ruffle his hair.

"What is it?" she asked looking at him with concern.

"It's just that I"-

"Hmm?"

"I- I- Ah screw it" he exclaimed and using his hands to cup her face, he leaned forward and kissed her.

Across the road, a figure pulled his hood over his head and smirked to himself. Everything was going nicely. Soon the time would be right and everything would return to its rightful place.

Maya made a strangled noise in the back of her throat and pushed Orion away from her. "I-I can't do this right now" she said softly looking at her feet. "Thanks for the ride". She hurriedly collected her things and bolted from the car. Orion groaned and slammed his fists on the steering wheel. He'd screwed up big time.

* * *

"Can I have this one?" Lois asked looking up at her parents hopefully.

Oliver eyed the dress. "Are you sure Lois should be wearing a halter neck?"

"I need to look good daddy; I don't want Asher to say that I'm not pretty!" Lois huffed and placing her hands on her hips she glared at her father.

"See what I mean" Oliver looked at his wife. "She's growing up way too fast!"

"Oh Ollie" Chloe laughed "just let her get the dress, you know how particular she is about her clothes?"

"I know Chlo but I can't help but feeling that she's growing up too fast!" he protested.

"Mr. and Mrs. Queen?"

"Xander?" Chloe asked looking at the young man in front of her and wondering briefly what he was doing in a boutique.

"Hello" he greeted pleasantly.

Oliver forced a smile and nodded his head. "What brings you here Xander?" he asked.

"I'm here picking up a dress for my mother" he replied.

"I see, it's been a while since we've seen you" Chloe remarked casually. "You don't come round so much anymore".

"Yes well sorry about that. It doesn't look like I'll come round anymore anyway now that Harlan and I have broken up".

"What?" Oliver and Chloe asked in unison.

"She broke up with me actually" Xander said with a bitter laugh. "Anyway I have to go now, nice seeing you Mr. and Mrs. Queen" he said as he took a package handed to him by a sales assistant.

"Wow, I can't believe Harlan broke up with him" Chloe said with a sigh as she watched Xander walk out the door.

"Are you being serious? I think she did well to break up with him" Oliver said with a snort.

"He was such a catch" Chloe sighed. "I can only hope that Lois finds such a man in the future".

"Speaking of Lois, where is she? She was just here a second ago". Oliver looked around trying to spot the familiar blond pigtails but to his dismay there was no sight of her anywhere.

"We'll split up to look for her, this boutique has two floors maybe she went back downstairs?" Chloe suggested.

"Have you seen a little girl about this high has blond hair in two pigtails, wearing a blue floral dress?" Oliver asked one of the sales assistants but she shook her head in confusion. "Shit!" he cursed and running a hand through his hair he shot off in the opposite direction.

Two hours; that was how long Oliver and Chloe had been searching the boutique for their precious daughter but it was no use. There was no sign of Lois anywhere. Oliver was getting desperate by now and all he wanted was to hear her call him and run into his legs like she usually did. Oliver felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. There was no question about it. His Lois had been kidnapped.

* * *

The league control room in the basement of the Queen household was in an uproar. Never before had any of the little ones been taken and there was a soft spot in everyone's heart for Lois; which would be a valid reason as to why all the league members were currently seeing red. The first thing that Oliver had done was to examine the surveillance cameras of the building but nothing came up. Victor had explained that it was possible to hack into the system and anyone could have done it.

"Whoever it was could have hacked into the system and placed a pre recorded segment over the live feed while they took Lois and we wouldn't be able to tell the difference".

"Who would kidnap our Lois?" Bart exclaimed in rage.

"Who do you think dude? It's probably Lex dude" AC replied as his mouth contorted into a scowl that looked out of place on his usually grinning face.

"Let's go there right now and get her back!" Victor said as he stood before Oliver.

"We can't do that Vic" Oliver said tiredly "we don't have enough evidence, we don't know if Lex is the one that kidnapped her in the first place. We have to wait and see how it goes first".

"I don't care what we do Ollie as long as I get my baby back". Chloe's voice choked up with emotion and he buried her head in her hands. Oliver's heart ached for her and he longed to reach out and comfort her but his legs didn't seem to want to move. Frankly he didn't know what he would say to her, it was his fault after all. He should have kept a closer eye on Lois, he should have held on to her hand or something. It was all his fault and he blamed himself.

He looked around the room; Harlan was seated on one of the armchairs next to Maya looking weary. Orion was seated opposite the girls watching Maya with a look that Oliver had never seen on his face before. It was a look that he had given Dinah when she'd broken up with him; it was that of pain.

Maya was staring blankly off into the distance obviously upset. It was understandable; she loved Lois like a sister. A loud beeping echoed in the tensed room and Maya looked down in shock at her cell phone in her hand.

"Sorry" she apologized and after looking at the message on her phone she bolted out of the room. Oliver watched as Orion stared after her, his face in an unreadable expression. There were just way too many things for him to think about but the utmost thought on his mind was his daughter. He prayed to god that his precious baby was alright. When he found the bastards that took Lois, he would kill them.

* * *

Maya stared at the text message on her phone one more time. She didn't want to misread anything. As her eyes glazed over the bold black letters she felt the bile rise to her throat. What were those bastards going to do to Lois?

**If you want your precious god sister come alone. Bring anyone else and she dies. We'll be waiting. Look for Frankenstein.**

Maya clutched Batty the bat closer to her chest as she ran toward her four wheel drive parked in front of the Queen household. In her haste, she didn't notice her phone slip from her grasp, dropping to the pebbled driveway of the Queen mansion. Her mind was focused only on Lois. "Don't worry Lo, I'm coming to get you" she whispered into the wind, sprinting faste;r as if her life depended upon it.

* * *

Two hours later, Orion wandered around looking for Maya. She'd bolted out of the league control room two hours ago and he hadn't seen her since. "Maya?" he called letting his voice echo throughout the place.

"Master Orion, are you looking for Miss Maya?" It was Miss Lena their housekeeper.

He nodded. "Did you see her Miss Lena?"

"The last time I saw her she was running out the door and she seemed to be in a hurry" Miss Lena replied.

"Thank you". Orion went outside and looked around. "Maya?" he called again but no answer. Her car that had been in the driveway before was no longer there. He was about to turn around and go back into the house when a silvery glint caught his eye. He recognized that diamante '**M**' hanging from the phone. It was Maya's. He picked up the phone and his heart clenched in horror as his eyes gazed over the bold message that was still displayed on the screen.

"Maya" he whispered to himself "what have you done?"

* * *

**Author's note: **Sorry my lovelies that this took sooooo long to get out. I was majorly stuck with this chapter…and I was sooo upset with it I re-wrote it 3 times and now I'm still not happy with it. I haven't been to happy with what I've been writing lately but if the response is good for this chapter I'll probably continue but if its not then I'll think about the future of this story…anyway thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing! (or at least I hope you do). I reply personally to my readers and if you are an anonymous reviewer and you want me to reply to you, please leave you e-mail address and I'll get back to you. If you have any questions, suggestions or requests I'll be happy to comply! Thanks! Take care and huggies!

Sheen Shan


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Oliver watched as crystal tears rolled down Chloe's cheeks. Every tear seemed to be like a stab to his chest. Kat was rubbing her back soothingly and trying to comfort her. Victor, AC and Bart had all gone out searching for Lois while Bruce scoured the air with his bat jet. Oliver walked over to Harlan and sat down beside her.

"How are you holding up dad?" she asked and Oliver envied the strength that radiated from her voice.

"I'm doing ok" he said which wasn't the truth.

"Don't lie to me dad" she replied. "You're nostrils always flare when you lie" she remarked.

"Well alright, I'm not doing ok. I just want Lois back and I hate sitting around doing nothing!"

"You have to be patient dad, whoever it was will be wanting a big ransom and the note will come" she said.

"I hope you're right, I feel useless though. It just seems like I'm doing nothing to save my baby girl and that's really killing me".

"Don't worry dad, it'll be ok" she reassured reaching out to hug him. He closed his eyes as he hugged her. He could feel it. He could feel what she was feeling, and it was that moment that he was hit with it. There was no doubt about what Harlan had infected him with. It was love. As he pulled away, he felt his heart lighten with the epiphany that he'd experienced. Smiling slightly at his daughter for enlightening him, he walked over to his wife. Chloe looked up at him as he sat down beside her, unsure of what he was going to do. Then without thinking, just feeling, he embraced her. He held her tightly for a long while, not wanting to let go. This was his cocoon of security, this was his world.

* * *

Orion sprinted to his room as fast as his legs would allow him. He dropped to his knees when he reached his bed and pulled out the duffle bag that he'd hidden under it. He pulled out his bow, slinging it over his shoulder. He grabbed the arrow that Maya had crafted and placed that into his holster. He was just about to go downstairs when he bumped into Harlan.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"Ask no questions and I'll tell you no lies" he replied.

"Fine, in that case come with me" she said and he followed her to her side of the room. Pushing aside her clothes in her closet, she pulled a lever on the wall and a panel opened. It was like a square hole in the wall, like a dumbwaiter.

"What the hell is that?" Orion asked absolutely gob smacked.

"This dear brother; is the future of the Justice League" she said pulling out three black leather suits.

"How did you manage to get that installed?" Orion asked as he stared at his sister in wonder.

"Ask no questions and I'll tell you no lies" she retorted and he blinked at her.

"So what is this for?" he asked fingering the black suits.

"Well I've got three made, one for you, one for Maya and one for me. It was Maya's idea actually; she came up with the design. I just put it into making. It's for our future participation in the league" Harlan remarked.

"What are the stripes for?" he asked as he noticed two white colored stripes around the arms of the first suit, two red colored striped around the arms of the second suit and two baby blue colored stripes around the arms of the last suit.

"That's just for fashion's sake. Maya said that you liked white so you should have white stripes, her suit has blue stripes and mine has red. Its' mainly to distinguish whose suit is whose" Harlan replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Can I wear it now?" he asked and she nodded, "it might fit a little snug but other than that, it should be fine".

"Thanks" he replied and grabbing his suit, he went into the bathroom to get changed.

When he came out five minutes later, Harlan was lounging on her couch. She looked up when she saw him and gave him a whistle. "Wow, no offense but you look like a stripper" she remarked and he scowled at her.

"I'm not wearing this" he snapped.

"Hold on a second. Before you say anything, just move about in it" Harlan suggested. Orion waved his arms around and even practiced shooting imaginary arrows from his bow.

"It's actually not that bad" he agreed after a while.

"Shouldn't you be going somewhere?" Harlan looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm going now" he said but before he could walk out the door she stopped him.

"You're going to need this" she said and tossed him a pair of boots.

"What's this?"

"Remember the suction boots I was working on? Well I've finally perfected it and this is the men's version. Its kind of like dad's but a little better if I should say so myself" Harlan replied with a grin.

"Thanks" he replied as he kicked off his shoes and pulled on the boots.

"O" Harlan called as Orion had reached the door. He stopped in his tracks but didn't look at her. "If you're not back in two hours, you know I'll have no choice". He nodded briefly and without looking back, he sprinted to the front of the mansion with only one thought in mind.

* * *

Maya had wasted no time once she had received the text message. Finding Frankenstein had been easy. She knew where the book was, in Lex's office. She had known that Lex would be behind the kidnapping. But what reason did he have for taking Lois? She didn't want to think about it. She could understand why he shipped in large quantities of meteor rock but the stolen animals and kidnapped children? What was Lex doing?

Frankenstein had led her straight through to a winding underground tunnel and from there, to a large laboratory. Being in the laboratory gave her the chills; there were two rows of cells opposite each other and in the middle of the laboratory, there was a computer and an operating table with various surgical tools. Was this what lay in wait for Lois? She shuddered at that thought. She walked a little further when she saw a cell covered in what looked like bullet proof glass. There were five children lying asleep on the floor.

"These must be the kids that were kidnapped" Maya whispered to herself. She was just about to try and set them free when she heard a familiar voice echoing in the laboratory.

"Mr. Meany you come back here! Do you know who my daddy is? He is Oliver Queen! He's going to kick your butt when he finds out about this!"

"Lois?" Maya called running in the direction of her voice.

"Maya!" Lois exclaimed.

"Hold on, let me get you out" she said and fiddled around with the computer until Lois's cell door opened.

"Maya!" Lois squealed and clung to her for dear life breaking out into little sobs.

"There, there baby, it's alright" Maya soothed rubbing Lois's back.

"Here, I brought you someone who might cheer you up" Maya said handing Batty the Bat to Lois.

"Batty!"

"Now lets go and free the other kids shall we and then after I get you guys out I'll come back for the files?" she asked Lois who nodded.

* * *

Orion didn't really have a strategy or a plan of attack. He had originally decided to just storm the gate of Lex's mansion and demand that Maya and Lois be returned to him at once. But upon arriving at the mansion, with the gate wide open mind you, he realized what a buffoon he was. He must have been experiencing a temporary lapse of insanity to have had such thoughts. Firstly, he couldn't storm the gate seeing as it was wide open. Secondly, there was no way that Lex was just going to hand over Maya and Lois because he asked. I mean how stupid would that be? And lastly, how could he go and demand that he be returned something that was no longer in Lex's own grasp?

He stared dumbly as Maya ran towards him carrying Lois in her arms followed by five children. What the hell was going on? Wasn't he supposed to be rescuing them?

"Maya" he began but no other words followed.

"Orion" she panted, "my car's parked around the corner from here at Luthor Corp. Take the kids and get out of here".

"I'm not leaving you behind" he exclaimed.

"You have to go first. I need to go back and get evidence" she panted.

"I'm not leaving you by yourself" he argued. "Forget it, I'll go and you take the kids".

"I know how to get in. Don't worry I'll be fine", she said a little softer and before he could open his mouth to protest she leant in and gently kissed him on the lips. "I'll be fine" she repeated.

"Take my bike" he said. "Its fast, just key in your name in the keypad and it'll work".

"Thanks" she replied and turned away, walking back in the direction of the mansion.

"Maya" Orion called out as he watched her retreating back. She turned around, looking at him questioningly. "Be safe" he said and she nodded her head in understanding running off towards the mansion. Despite Maya's assurance, Orion felt an uneasiness stirring in his stomach. Something didn't seem right, how did Maya manage to get out so safely. It had been almost too easy. Deciding that he was just being paranoid, he led the children out of the mansion's main gates with only a backward glance at the girl he cared for.

* * *

Oliver popped his head into the twins' room hoping to see at least one of them but the room was empty. Even Maya was nowhere in sight. He had looked for her, knowing that Orion wouldn't be far behind. The house seemed oddly empty without the twins and Lois. He walked to the nursery that he'd entered on his first day in the house. He spied his sleeping son in the cot and his heart melted. There was no other word to describe Carl than adorable. He wasn't sure when it occurred but he felt his heart expand as he watched his sleeping son. Somewhere inside him, it was like a light bulb was switched on in his heart. He missed his children; a large part of him now didn't ever want to return back to his original time period. He would miss this life too much. The loving warmth that his family radiated had filled the void within him and he wasn't ready to give that up just yet.

His eyes widened when he heard shouts from downstairs. Tearing down the stairs he nearly sobbed with joy as he caught sight of the blond pigtails hugging Chloe. "LOIS". The mansion echoed with his shout and as soon as she caught sight of him, she ran into his open arms.

"I missed you daddy" she sobbed quietly as she buried her face into his neck.

"I know baby, I missed you too" he replied feeling a wave of relief wash over him.

"I don't ever want to leave you daddy" she said as she pulled back to look at him "and that means that I won't get married too".

"That's a relief to hear" he replied laughing.

"Daddy where's Maya?" Lois asked looking around the room.

"Yeah dad, she should have been back by now" Orion replied.

"I-I don't know" Oliver replied "she's not here".

* * *

Maya entered the lab that she'd been in merely minutes before. "Hmmm that's strange, I could have sworn that the lights were on before" she mumbled to herself.

"Did you think that everything was going to be so easy?" came a voice from the shadows and she felt her blood turn to ice.

"Did you think we were so stupid? That we were going to let you walk out of here freely?" Another voice spoke up and she felt someone grab her arms and she was pulled up against something solid.

"What?"-

"Did you think I was stupid Maya?" a voice asked and her eyes widened. That voice, it was familiar to her. She had heard it whispering sweet nothings into her ears often.

"Chase?" she asked as the lights came on, exposing his face. There was something different about his face though. It didn't look as friendly and welcoming as she remembered. There was something sinister, malicious and she would even go as far as to say that it looked evil.

"Oh Maya, forgotten me already?" he asked with a bitter laugh as he pulled her tighter to his chest.

"I bet she's shocked" Xander added from a little distance away as he leant against the wall.

"You're here too?" Maya asked as she turned her head to face him.

"Surprised to see me? Who do you think sent you the text message?" Xander asked as his fingers toyed with the hem of his jacket.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked struggling slightly to get out of Chase's arms".

"You dumped me, you bitch. No one dumps Chase Blaine. Plus, we hate the Queens and what better way to get revenge over that dick Orion than to fuck around with his girl?" Chase remarked with a sneer.

"What are you talking about?" Maya asked.

"Oh it's pathetic, the way he looks at you" Xander added in disgust. "He's like a lovesick fool".

"Xander quit talking so we can finish up before my dad gets back" Chase growled.

"The mayor?" Maya gasped. "You mean the mayor's in on this too?"

"The mayor?" Chase asked. "The mayor's not my father. Anyway he doesn't know shit about what's happening".

"Wait" She exclaimed "so if the mayor isn't your father then your father must be"-

"Lex" Chase answered with a smirk.

"So now you're going to explain to her how Lex is your daddy?" Xander mocked.

"Fuck you" Chase shot back.

"Well you might as well tell her, since you've already got her where you want her" Xander replied with a shrug.

"Well it's a long story but let's cut it short shall we?" Chase replied with a weird glint in his eye.

"Just get on with it already" Xander coaxed.

"Well to cut the long story short, my father had a sordid affair with the Mayor's wife. My mother didn't want the mayor to know that I'm not really his son. So all this time I've been raised as a Mayor's son but I've been keeping in touch with my father. Then Xander and I became best mates because his dad has been working for my dad for years. They're working on merging the DNA of humans with an animal's".

"So what are the wolves and bats for?" Maya asked looking at cages which housed the captured wolves and bats.

"They're the specimens" Xander answered with a smirk.

"You're sick. The both of you" Maya answered back in disgust. She had been such a fool. It had never occured to her that resucing the kids had been too easy and now she had walked into theri trap.

"You may be right about that. Chase certainly is sick. He didn't take his meds today so he's even worse".

"I wanted to be truly aware for when I met you" Chase growled as he let go of Maya.

"Don't even think of escaping" Xander said before Maya could do anything.

"What are you talking about?" Maya asked feeling the dread settling in her stomach.

"You dumped me before we could have sex. In a way I was robbed and now I want to get what you owe me" Chase remarked. "So take it off".

"No" she replied pulling her arms around herself.

"Take your clothes off" he ordered.

"No" She protested.

"Or would you like me to do it for you?" he asked as he advanced towards her.

"Come on Maya, we let you save the kids didn't we so its time to repay some of what you took? Besides Chase's dad is going to freak when he finds out that there aren't any test specimens left so I think it'll be great if we use you" Xander said.

"Are you going to take it off?" Chase ordered with a wild spark in his eye.

"No" Maya said and tried to make a run for the door but Chase and Xander were too quick for her.

"We're not going to let you go now that we've gone through such pains to get you here" Xander remarked with a sardonic laugh as he pinned her to the floor.

"Let me go!" she shouted struggling to get out of his vice like grip.

"No can do princess" Chase remarked. "Don't worry I'm sure they'll come for you soon. After all did you think I was stupid? That I wouldn't know that your father was in the justice league?"

Chase bent down and unbuttoned her shirt, ripping it apart in the process. She kicked and struggled when she felt Chase unbutton her jeans. She couldn't bear to focus on what came next. She felt Xander slap her hard when she thrashed around. Then came the excruciating pain. It was unlike a pain that she had ever felt before and it made the tears leak out of the corner of her eyes. She sobbed loudly unable to stand the throbbing pain between her legs and the feel of Chase's rough hands invading her body. She willed it to be over quickly. She tried to focus on something other than what was happening to her but as the tears rolled down her cheeks all she could think of was Orion.

"I'm sorry Orion. I'm so sorry" she half whispered and half sobbed to herself. Then as a sharp piercing pain shot through her body, her whole world went black.

* * *

"I'm sorry Harley but I need more time".

His words rang out in Harlan's ears like a bell. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear after pouring her heart out to him. She walked out of Wayne manor dejectedly unable to quell the aching of her heart.

It was obvious that he still loved Maya but surely there was a little room in his heart for her too right? Despite her heartache, it only made her love him more. She loved that he could be so devoted to one person and love them unconditionally, even after knowing that they would never love him back. If only she could be that person. What exactly did he mean by he needed more time? Did he need more time to forget Maya? Did he need more time to learn to love her? Or did he need more time for both?

Harlan wasn't sure what had propelled her to go to Wayne mansion. She was supposed to be sitting at home, worrying with her parents over Lois. Yet she had felt that unsettling feeling in her stomach. Like something bad was going to happen. She needed to get her feelings off her chest so that should anything tragic happen; she would have said her pieces. It was what her father had always told her. Live your life with no regrets. Though she received abysmal results in return, at least she didn't regret it. She walked towards her bike and got on. Just as she was about to put on her helmet Terry ran out calling her name.

"Terry? What's wrong?" she asked looking at his face.

"I just got a call from your brother. He said he needs our help, I think something bad has happened to Maya" he said and Harlan felt her heart clench. It had begun.

* * *

**Author's note**: I'm sorry I had to do this. You must all be cursing me I'm sure. But the next chapter will reveal a lot. Let me know what you think. I personally feel that this chapter was a bit abruptly written...anyway if you have any suggestions feel free to let me know yes?


	11. Sheen's cookies

**Author's note**: Hello all, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive and that this story is also very much alive…unfortunately I have so unmotivated and have just had no will to write but thanks to some of you who have Private messaged me and left me lovely encouraging reviews, I just had to continue writing….I'm in the process of editing chapter 11…and will post it up sometime next week for so for those of you who are interested….in the mean time I decided to post up the cookies/interludes for the story…I had written them a long while ago and have decided to post them up..some of you may have read them while others have not…but anyway…I would just like to thank everyone who has read and reviewed the story up till now and for those who have PMed me…I really appreciate it from the bottom of my heart and it is for you guys that I will continue this till the end! I'm greatful for all the support and I'm sorry you've all had to wait so long! Anyway here are two cookies for the time being…take care and will post up real soon! by the way the 000 symbolises little section breaks...didn't want to have too many lines in this especially since its got two cookies...

* * *

Oliver put a hand to his head as he felt a sharp pain to his cranium. _Oh for the love of god_ he thought to himself _why does this keep happening? Am I supposed to be learning something from this? _He watched as his vision began to blur and a scene began to flash before his eyes and the star of the show was the Oliver whose life he'd replaced.

_It was a hospital corridor of some sorts and it was empty of people. Suddenly the swinging double doors swung open with a bang and a whole load of people came streaming in. Leading the throng was Chloe, seated in a wheelchair being wheeled in by her daughter. Running alongside her on her left was Oliver making ridiculous breathing noises._

"_**HEE HEE HOO**" he was chanting over and over again like a broken record while Chloe was grimacing in pain at her contractions. Running alongside Chloe on her left was Orion who was also making the same ridiculous breathing noise as his fathers._

"_**HEE HEE HOO** come on mom you can do it" he encouraged. At Chloe's back wheeling her in was Harlan who was also making the same ridiculous breathing noises as her brother and father. _

_Behind the four Queens came Clark with Lois perched on top of his shoulders , Bruce, Victor who was elected cameraman since he had a built in camera, AC and Bart. It wasn't weird that there was so many people following Oliver and his family but it was the fact that they were all doing the same ridiculous breathing noise as Oliver, Harlan and Orion._

"_Will you all **QUIT IT**?" Chloe bellowed in between gasps of breath. "I get the idea! I've done this before" she growled._

"_Sorry mom" Orion replied sheepishly while Oliver took no notice and continued to breathe like a woman in labor. _

"_I'll take Mrs. Queen from here" the nurse said taking the handles of the wheelchair over from Harlan. Oliver made a move to follow them but the nurse glared at him. "You can't come in" she said "after what happened last time you were here we're not letting you in there" she said and promptly wheeled Chloe into the labor ward._

_Oliver began pacing up and down furiously as soon as Chloe was out of his sight despite fellow members of the league assuring him that everything would be fine. After two hours of pacing Oliver decided to change actions and began tapping his foot on the floor in a steady rhythm._

_Meanwhile in the corner Lois was interrogating Clark. "Uncle Clark I don't understand" she was saying, her tiny brows furrowed in confusion._

"_What don't you understand Lois?" Clark asked._

"_I don't get how come mommy has to come her to get a baby when Uncle Bart told me that the stork brings babies"._

"_Oh, uh…err…**BART** a little help here" Clark yelled and Bart was there in a heartbeat._

"_Yes senor and senorita I am at your service" he said with a mock bow._

"_Since you're her god father you explain why Chloe has to come here to the hospital to have a baby when you told her that the stork brings babies" Clark said glaring at the younger man._

"_What? I didn't know how else to tell her and she was so cute and she had this puppy dog eyes. I was a slave to it I tell you! **A SLAVE**" he finished dramatically and Clark rolled his eyes while Lois looked as confused as ever._

"_So where do babies come from Uncle Bart? And why is mommy here" she asked and it was clear that it didn't look like she was going to drop the topic any time soon._

"_Ok" Bart sighed "sometimes the stork brings babies baked in a pie, mmmm pie and then moms can sometimes mistake their babies for pies and then they eat them and so the moms have to come to the hospital to get their tummy cut open to take out the pies I mean babies"-_

"_**BART!"** Clark yelled "not helping" he said when he noticed Lois's lip trembling and her eyes welling with tears._

"_Mommy ate my baby brother or sister?" she asked her voice teary._

"_Err…this is awkward" Bart whispered to Clark._

"_You think?" Clark hissed back "Now we have a four year old who thinks her mother ATE HER YOUNGER SIBLING thanks to you!"_

"_Who ate who's younger sibling?" Victor asked._

"_Whoa where'd you come from?" Bart asked "no wait never mind I don't want to know. Now that you're here we need your help"._

"_My help?" Victor asked. "With what?" _

_Clark and Bart looked at each other with sly looks. It was time to pass this burden onto Victor._

_000_

"…_so when the PC is joined with the CPU you get a computer" Victor finished and Lois blinked at him._

"_Get it?" he asked and Lois shook her head._

"_AC get your butt down here we need you" Victor called and AC padded over._

"_What do you need me for dude?" he asked._

_Clark, Bart and Victor traded sly looks with each other. It was time for someone else to give it a shot._

_000_

"…_and then the daddy seahorse carries the baby sea horses in his belly for a long time until they're born" AC explained._

"_Does the daddy sea horse eat the baby sea horses when they're born?" Lois asked._

_Victor, Bart and Clark waved their hands about to form the universal hand gesture for the word __**NO**__ but AC didn't seem to pick up on it._

"_Uh yeah sometimes only when the daddy sea horse gets really hungry" he said and Victor, Bart and Clark all smacked their heads with a groan._

_Lois's lower lip trembled and she let out a soft sob. "Err did I say something wrong?" AC asked looking uncomfortable._

"_Mayday, mayday" Bart called. "Bring in the bat, bring in the bat!"_

"_Uh Bruce man?" AC called "dude we are in desperate need of your wisdom and guidance man"_

"_I'm not getting involved in any of your numbskull hairball plans" he replied._

"_Dude it's nothing like that man, we need your help with Lois" AC said and the other three members of the league nodded solemnly._

_000_

"…_And since bats are nocturnal creatures the mommy bat and the daddy bat can only make baby bats at night. Also because the baby bats are blind during the day the mommy and daddy bats can only teach them to hunt during the night" Bruce said._

"_The baby bats are blind?" Lois asked and Bruce nodded._

_Lois let out a sniffle and before she could burst into sobs Clark intervened. "Ok don't listen to any of your other Uncles they're all talking rubbish. Now actually you get a baby because when a man and a woman love each other very much"-_

"_**NO**__" all the other members of the league yelled._

"_Anything but that" Victor said glaring at the man of steel._

"_Err…ok fine scratch that don't listen to any of you uncles me included" Clark told Lois._

"_Oh for god's sake" Harlan exclaimed walking over to talk to her uncles. "Hearing you men explain where babies come from is enough to make a saint curse his butt off. Now when you want to handle a situation like this again, just do what I do" Harlan said._

"_Which is?" Bart asked leaning forward._

"_Lois" Harlan said turning to her younger sister "if you got to ask where babies come from than you're too young to know"._

"_Ok" Lois replied simply and bounded off to her father and her brother who were both pacing up and down the corridor together._

_All five of Lois's dear Uncles looked on after her as she bounced off feeling incredibly stupid and foolish. _

"_Wow, we really explained it to her" Bart said and he promptly received four smacks on the back of his head. "Next time" he grumbled to himself "I'm not saying anything"._

_**END OF FIRST COOKIE**_

* * *

**-This cookie is for when Maya was hanging out with Harlan and Lois. It takes place after the fifth chapter- **

Orion finished doing his assignment for his Physics class and deciding to take a break he walked downstairs and out to the back garden where he supposed the girls were. He stood looking out through the tinted glass sliding doors, not wanting to be seen. Harlan had already jumped into the pool and little Lois was cannon balling into the shallow end. Maya was still in her jeans and cashmere sweater from that day.

"Come on Maya" Harlan was calling trying to get her friend into the pool.

"I don't really want to" Maya called back "I didn't really bring my bathers".

"Don't lie" Harlan called back "I know you're wearing your lucky light blue bathers underneath your sweater just in case we were going to go swimming".

Maya sighed looking defeated "yes but I'm not sure that I want to get into the pool I'm feeling a bit self conscious…"

"Come on Maya" Lois called.

"Ok fine" Maya replied giving in to Lois. Then looking around to make sure that no one was about, she took off her cashmere sweater. Orion's mouth went dry at the sight of her bare back only marred by the strip of blue at the back and he felt himself harden when Maya slipped out of her jeans.

"Oh my god" Orion muttered to himself. "I'm going nuts. This is Maya for god's sake. I mean sure when I was a kid I fancied her but I mean things are different now, we're teens".

"Come here Lois" Maya said splashing about in the pool "didn't you want me to throw you across to the other side of the pool?"

"Yay!" Lois squealed splashing about in her Disney princess bathing suit. "You're not throwing me high enough" Lois complained when Maya hurled her across the pool. It was then that Orion decided that he should help out. He ran back upstairs and quickly pulled on his board shorts and ran back down again.

"Mind if I join you?" Orion asked standing at the edge of the pool clad only in his shorts.

"Err…" Maya stammered staring at his bare, well chiseled, well toned chest and she suddenly felt incredibly self conscious.

"YAY ORRIE!" Lois yelled.

"I've got to go" Maya said and she hastily tried to get out of the pool trying to cover as much of herself as she could with her hands. Orion walked over to her just as she got out of the pool.

"Do I make you feel uncomfortable Maya?" he asked standing in front of her.

"No- no it's just that I have to go now, I need to get home" she replied.

"Maya" he whispered his body just centimeters away from hers "don't leave because of me. In a way I've already made you leave once before and you didn't come back for four and a half years. Don't leave again" he whispered taking a step towards her and she took a step back slipping on the edge of the pool and falling backwards. She hit her head on the side railing on the pool and fell back first into the deep end.

"Maya?" Orion called "Are you ok?" but Maya didn't come to the surface.

"Maya" Harlan yelled and began to swim towards her friend but Orion got to Maya first.

Diving into the pool he swam to the bottom and brought Maya to the surface.

"Get dad now" Orion shouted and Harlan raced to get her father.

"Is Maya going to be alright" Lois asked him, her voice teary.

"Yes she will be" Orion replied confidently as he placed Maya on the ground. Listening to her heartbeat he pressed both his hands on her heart and began to do CPR. "Come on Maya" he urged before blowing air into her mouth. "You can do this come on".

He signed in relief when Maya began to cough out water, taking deep gasping breaths. "You're alright" Orion said soothingly as he wrapped her in a large beach towel. He rubbed her back gently to help calm her down.

Harlan came rushing out followed by Oliver "is she ok?" Harlan asked in concern.

"Yeah she's fine" Orion said "just exhausted and she has a nasty bump on the head and a twisted ankle from the awkward position in which she fell".

"Maya, thank god you're alright" Oliver exclaimed getting to his knees to look at his goddaughter.

"The doctor's on his way" Harlan said getting off her cell phone.

"I'm fine" Maya rasped her throat still sore from coughing out water.

"Yeah well we still need to get you checked out" Oliver said and he held his hands out to help Maya stand up but Orion already beat him to it.

"Ah" Maya cried falling back down as she unconsciously leaned on her twisted ankle.

"I got you" Orion said and he picked up Maya, carrying her as a groom would a bride.

"Take her upstairs while I call Victor" Oliver told his son. Orion nodded and carried Maya up to the room he shared with his twin. He headed straight to his black leather couch and gently laid Maya on it.

"I've got your stuff Maya" Harlan said coming into the room. "O, can you leave for a bit while I help Maya get dressed?"

"Yeah sure" Orion replied and grabbing some clothes and a towel he headed off to one of the other numerous bathrooms in the Queen mansion to have a shower.

About forty five minutes later he went back to his room to find Maya seated on his black leather couch already showered and changed, being checked up by Dr. Greenberg the league's appointed doctor.

"Well Maya, looks like you're fine. You just need to sleep and rest that ankle" he said pointing to her newly bandaged ankle. Oliver and Harlan followed Dr. Greenberg out the door. Harlan gave Orion a small sly smile and Orion rolled his eyes.

"Hey" Orion called walking towards the couch.

"Hi" Maya greeted back.

"You look better" he remarked noticing that some color had returned to her face.

"It's all thanks to the mug of warm milk and cookies that you sent Miss Lena up with. Thanks".

"No problem" he replied "Miss Lena had a little fight with me. She insisted that you'd be better off with her stew but I told her that nothing made you feel better like a mug of warm milk and chocolate chip cookies" he said and she laughed.

"Poor Miss Lena, she must think I don't like her cooking" Maya said with a smile.

"Nah don't worry about her" Orion said then turning serious he cleared his throat. "Look Maya I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable earlier it's just that"-

"No it's not you, it's me" she said "I guess it was quite weird for me adjusting to this whole 'being friends' thing. I've gone from not speaking to you in four and half years to seeing you everyday" she replied.

"I know" Orion said looking down. "Look if it's too much for you then"-

"I don't mind seeing you everyday it's just that I got a little freaked out. I keep forgetting that we're not enemies anymore. It's so stupid I know".

"Look Maya I know that it was my fault in the first place that we stopped talking but I'm going to try and make it up to you. I want things to go back to as they were, like when we were kids".

"I'd like that" Maya replied with a smile.

"Good I know I"-

Orion was cut off by a loud 'WHOOMP THERE IT IS! WHOOMP THERE IT IS'.

"Sorry" Maya apologized "it's my ring tone just give me a sec" she told Orion and answered her phone.

"Hello? Oh hi Chase, no it's not a bad time. Sure go ahead. Yeah I'd like that what time and when? Ok sure no problem. Tomorrow? Sounds great see you tomorrow then" she said and hung up with a giddy smile on her face.

"Chase?" Orion asked trying to look indifferent.

"Yeah" Maya replied.

"Hey Maya" Harlan exclaimed excitedly as she came into the room. "Guess what?"

"Let me guess" Maya said pretending to look thoughtful. "Xander just called you and asked you to go to the movies with him tomorrow night?"

"Yeah" Harlan replied excitedly. "How do you know?"

"Because Chase just called me and asked me the exact same thing" Maya replied with a grin.

"Oh snap" Harlan exclaimed "oh my god, it's going to be a double date! Yes! Yes! Yes!" she yelled and jumped around. Orion looked at the two girls and the smile on Maya's face and he felt his chest tighten. "Oh yeah" Harlan said when she'd stopped jumping "Dad's going to drive you home so he sent me to come up and get your stuff".

Harlan helped Maya gather her stuff and Maya stood up but lost balance and fell back down on the couch. "Here let me help you" Orion said and he placed his left arm around Maya's waist and her right arm around his shoulder.

"Thanks" she replied smiling at him. "I've got to get myself a pair of crutches".

They made their way downstairs where Oliver was talking on the phone.

"Sure I can be there as soon as I drop Maya off give me about half an hour. Yes, thanks bye".

"Dad" Orion said as soon as Oliver had gotten off the phone "I can drop Maya it's no problem".

"Ok then" Oliver replied feeling secretly happy that Orion and Maya might get some alone time.

"Alright then let's get going" Harlan announced.

"Oh Harlan, you can stay here with me I need your help with something" Oliver said and Harlan looked puzzled.

"What do you need my help with dad" Harlan asked and Oliver shot her a look.

"Something" he said gesturing to Maya and Orion with his eyes.

"Oh! Oh yes, I need to help you with something" Harlan replied getting his meaning.

"See you guys later" Oliver said.

"Yeah go, go bye! Shoo" Harlan said practically pushing them out the door.

000

Maya sat in the front passenger seat while Orion drove the black BMW. "So you're going out with Chase huh?" Orion asked casually.

"Sort of, I'm not sure" she replied.

"You must really like him" he said and Maya shrugged her shoulders.

"He's a nice guy".

He nodded his head in understanding. "So how's Stacy" she asked.

"I don't know, we broke up yesterday" he replied.

"So who's the next lucky girl?" Maya asked and he shrugged his shoulders.

"No one yet" he replied.

"So do you like anyone?" she asked "maybe Harlan and I can play matchmaker and set you up with someone" she teased.

"Nah not really" he replied.

"Oh we're home" she exclaimed as the car pulled up into the driveway of the Stone house.

"Do you need any help?" he asked her and she shook her head "I should be fine" she replied.

"Ok"

"You know O, I really missed talking to you" she said. "I'm glad we're friends again".

"So am I" he replied with a grin.

"And I just want to say thanks for helping me today, I really appreciate it" she said and then leaning over she hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. With a friendly smile, she got out of the car and hobbled to the front door.

Orion brought a hand up to his cheek. He could still imagine her warm breath on his cheek and the smell of her shampoo. He wasn't sure how long he stayed that way for but after a long time he looked at the Stone house and something clicked.

"I think I know who I like" he said to an empty car. The name escaped his lips with a soft whisper, "Maya". "It's you, Maya".


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

**Chapter 11**

"O, what happened?" Harlan asked him as she and Terry ran towards him. Harlan was already geared up while Terry seemed to be wearing a more modified version of the bat suit.

"What are you wearing?" Orion asked as Terry stood before him.

"This is the batman of the future" he'd replied.

"Whatever, anyway Maya was supposed to have been out by now but she's not. I received a message about ten minutes ago saying that if I ever wanted to see Maya again I should come to Luthor mansion".

"Shit" Terry swore running a hand agitatedly through his hair.

"Fuck this is worse than I thought, it's a good thing that I thought to call the cavalry" Harlan remarked.

"What?" her twin asked looking perplexed.

"And it looks like they're here" she exclaimed as a large silver vehicle pulled up near them.

"Is that the-?"

"Yes brother dearest that is in deed the crown jewel" she replied humorlessly.

"You called mum and dad??" Orion asked incredulously.

"Well who better to call then them?" Harlan replied.

"Well, lets get this bastard and get Maya out of there" Oliver exclaimed as he stepped out of the vehicle. "By the way Harley this thing is amazing!"

"Thanks dad, so what's the plan?" she asked.

"Well I've got AC and Victor working on the surveillance cameras and any traps that have been planned. Then when we get the signal, we'll move in on the mansion. Your mother will remain in the crown jewel and navigate us" he added gesturing to Chloe who was seated in the passenger seat with a laptop. She looked up and waved at them.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Orion asked skeptically.

"Don't worry son, we'll get her back" Oliver comforted gently patting his son on the back.

"Alright so we're all set?" Terry asked.

"Yes we are, the rest of the group will be here in two minutes" Oliver replied as he checked his holster.

"Arrow!" Victor called as he and AC jogged up to the small group. "We're here" he announced. Victor's face was void of any emotion but Oliver knew him better than that.

"Good, now everyone take your positions. Harlan, you'll stay with you mum and monitor the surveillances while the five of us go in. Bruce is going to keep Lex busy for a while. So we should have some time to get Maya out without any problems.

"O, you're going to cover the south entrance with Terry, according to the blueprints I'm pretty sure that's where they've got Maya. The league and I will take out the guards around the place to make it easier for you guys." Oliver ordered pointing to something on the blueprints of Luthor mansion that he'd somehow managed to get his hands on.

"Vic and AC, you two cover the north entrance" Oliver said to them watching as they nodded in understanding.

"Bart and I will do the east entrance and Clark will go west. Everyone got it?" he asked looking at the determined faces around him.

"Got it". Orion was the first to answer. He nodded at Terry in understanding and the two of them made their way to their entrance, AC and Victor slowly walked towards their positions.

"Victor looks like shit" Oliver remarked to Bart.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine when we get Maya out" Bart assured.

"Well let's hope everything goes according to plan" Oliver replied watching the retreating figures of his son and his team mates.

* * *

Maya moaned softly. Her head ached, her body ached and she felt as if she might die. She knew she must look like a dog's left over dinner. Her clothes were ripped to shreds and she felt like she was losing her mind. She tried to stand up but her legs failed her and she crashed to the ground in a lump of limbs. She felt angry tears seep out of the corner of her eyes and cursed herself for being so weak. She didn't even have the energy to sit up. Chase and Xander had tortured her amongst other things, draining her mentally and physically. She was all ready to give up, to throw in the towel, until she heard it. It sounded like an echo from far away. Maybe it was closer than she thought, or perhaps her senses were failing her. It was like the light at the end of her tunnel, her saving grace.

"Maya!"

There it was, that voice. The voice that she had programmed into her brain. The voice that was her beacon of light in the dark. He had come for her.

"I've opened the cell" came Terry's voice and Maya felt a swell of gratitude for him.

She tried to stand up but her legs wobbled under her. It was a feat that was nearly impossible.

"Its alright I've got you" Orion's voice soothed. Then as though she was as light as a sack of potatoes, he picked her up in his arms. She closed her eyes with a small smile, knowing she was safe now.

"Such a crying shame" a voice called out making Terry and Orion halt in their tracks.

"It is isn't it Xander" Chase replied with a sinister chuckle.

"Maya I'm going to set you down for a while" Orion whispered calmly to her. Then I'm going to kill these bastards for what they did to you". She didn't respond, she was too weak to respond.

"So you guys are the ones that did this to her" Terry asked, his voice dangerously low.

"Well isn't it obvious dumb fuck?" Chase asked raising an eyebrow. Then eyeing the various cuts and bruises that covered Maya's body he chuckled. "I'd say we did a pretty good job didn't we Xander?"

"Most definitely, and I must say it was very satisfying. Although these two lads over here wouldn't know what we're talking about would they?" and Chase snickered in response.

"Fuck you!" Orion roared.

"Well too late my dear Orion" Chase replied with a sardonic laugh. "Maya already did that".

Orion lunged at Chase, tackling him to the ground. He didn't bother questioning how Chase and Xander recognized him through his disguise but mattered little in comparison to what they were saying.

"I'm going to fucking kill you!" Orion roared as he struggled, pummeling Chase.

Xander surged forward lunging at Terry but Terry side stepped to the side, letting Xander fly across the floor. It was clear between this pair that Terry was more experienced and a better fighter than Xander. After all, Terry had been masquerading as the batman in his father's absence for years. He had been a diligent martial arts student for most of his life, learning from most of the league, practicing for hours a day.

"Come on Orion, is that all you've got?" Chase taunted laughing in Orion's face.

"You'll pay for doing this to Maya" the eldest of the Queen siblings growled in response delivering a nice black eye to Chase.

"Well if it makes you feel better, she wasn't that good. Well I suppose she can't possibly be any good when she's being pinned to the ground, unable to fight back. But oh, it was a good fight, kind of turned me on".

"You're sick" Orion gritted out as he kicked Chase in the stomach. Chase doubled over in pain and then threw his head back laughing maniacally. Terry, who'd just taken down Xander, came to stand beside Orion ready to lend his help if Orion needed. Both watched as Chase reached into his back pocket and pulled out a gun.

"See Orion _dearest_ I came prepared". Chase aimed the barrel of the gun at Orion.

"You do realize that the whole of the justice league is here right?" Terry asked. "They'll be here any second now".

"Did I say you could speak?" Chase asked cocking his head to one side before firing a shot that penetrated the flesh on Terry's abdomen. Orion gasped as Terry crumpled to the floor in pain.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Orion yelled. "This isn't some fucking game; you're playing with a life here! Have you gone fucking insane?"

"Next, it's your turn Orion" Chase replied in a sing song voice. He aimed the gun and as the shot rang out Orion closed his eyes. He didn't want to die. Feeling no pain, he opened his eyes and to his horror, he found Maya's bleeding body at his feet. She had somehow mustered up all her energy to throw herself in front of Orion. Even Chase couldn't seem to move.

"NO! No! No! No!" Orion exclaimed. "NO, Maya wake up!" He hadn't wanted to die but he most definitely without a doubt didn't want Maya to die either. Chase stood rooted to the spot, realizing the damage that he'd done. He hadn't intended for Maya to get in the way. All he'd wanted was to finish Orion off. Somewhere amidst his twisted personality, he had cared about Maya to some extent and he didn't want her to get what he felt Orion had deserved.

Orion dropped to his knees, cradling her body close to his. He watched as her eyelids began to droop and with a small smile on her face, her eyes closed for the last time. "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck! No Maya please wake up I'm begging you! Fucking hell Maya you can't leave me" He shook her body hoping to wake her up but it was no use. Her once bright and cheerful face was now drained of color and life. "I love you! I fucking love you Maya please, please wake up". He buried his face in her hair as he sobbed his love for her.

"Son!" Oliver exclaimed as he entered the room panting from his encounter with a couple of guards. Ignoring Chase who was standing in the corner shaking violently, Oliver rushed to his son after making sure Terry was ok. Fortunately Terry's wound wasn't so severe and he sat up, unable to take his eyes away from Maya's now lifeless body. "Orion-" Oliver broke off, unsure of what to say. What do you tell someone that just lost the love of their life? Oliver felt a pang of sadness in his heart as he watched his son grieve.

"I can't lose her dad" Orion broke. "I can't lose her. I-I didn't even tell her how much she meant to me. I hurt her dad, I hurt her so much. It should have been me! It should have FUCKING BEEN ME!" he yelled.

"Well that can be arranged" a voice yelled and as though in slow motion, Oliver watched as Xander grabbed the gun from Chase's shaking hands and aimed it at Orion. In that split second, Oliver didn't think. He threw himself in front of Orion, shielding his son from the bullet. He then staggered backwards from the force of the bullet and fell to the ground.

"DAD!" he heard Harlan's voice cry out through his ear piece. _So this is what it feels like_. _I'm going to die_ he thought to himself before a blinding white light engulfed him and his whole world went black.

* * *

"You can open your eyes now Ollie" a gentle voice soothed. He'd heard that voice before but he hadn't heard it in years. Slowly opening his eyes, he took in his surrounding. He was standing in the middle of some sort of meadow and by golly it was the most beautiful meadow that he'd ever been in. Never before had he seen such a green field and never before had his eyes chanced upon such a magnificent blue sky. It was only then that he realized that there was a person standing beside him.

"Dad???" he asked incredulously.

"Yes Ollie, how are you my son. It's been a while hasn't it?"

"Am I dead?"'

"Yes son you are" came the gentle reply.

"Am I in heaven?"

"Well not quite there yet" his father replied. "You are here because your mother and I have decided to help you. Your mother sends her apologies, she's sorry she can't be here but she's been dying, excuse the pun, to see Freddy Mercury. She was a die hard, once again excuse the pun, Queen fan, and excuse the pun yet again. So Freddy is having a concert and your mother got tickets".

"So you mean to say that mom's in heaven watching Freddy Mercury, former lead singer of Queen?"

"Yes"

"What? I don't understand why are you and mum helping me?"

"When you were mourning the loss of your relationship with Dinah, your mother and I mourned with you. But that is not the life that you were meant to have son. You were made for bigger, brighter things. That is why we wanted to give you a little slice of the life you were destined to lead" his father replied.

"So you mean to say that I have to get married to Chloe?" Oliver asked.

"No son, you don't have to get married to Chloe. Nor are you mother and I going to force you. We can only give you a nudge in that direction. Ultimately at the end of the day, the choice is still yours. But if you go down this path as Oliver the family man, I guarantee you son, you will be a happy man".

"Well how can you say that when my son has lost the love of his life and I'm dead?" Oliver shot back.

"Well I can promise you that things can change, you make your own destiny Oliver and how you play your part will determine the outcome of your family's lives".

"So I don't get it, what happened to my kids and Chloe?" Oliver asked referring to the life that he was cruelly snatched from.

"Nothing" his father answered simply. They're not real, they're just illusions. We needed to show you what could potentially be your life and we needed to get you out of it too so that I could talk to you. Well it was your mother's idea."

"So I'm not actually dead?"

"No son, not yet. Now I'm going to send you back to your time period Ollie and just know that what you do could change your destiny. It's up to you".

"I still don't get it father what the hell am I meant to be doing?"

"We don't use the word hell son, not unless we want to go there?"

"But I still don't understand this; I don't get any of it! I don't know what's going on and I sure as hell don't like it!!" Oliver exclaimed.

"Remember what I said Ollie, we don't say hell unless we want to go there and don't worry son, you'll find out soon enough! Alright son, time to go. I'll see you soon, take care of yourself".

"But Dad wait I-"

But it was too late, a blinding white light engulfed him and he felt himself falling, deeper and deeper into a bottomless pit.

* * *

"Oliver, Oliver wake up!"

"Owww" he groaned feeling the throbbing pain in his cranium

"Wow you're really hung over".

"Sidekick?" Oliver asked incredulously. "What the- what the hell are you doing here?"

"Well the guys were worried about you" Chloe replied "so they sent me straight into the dragon's lair to come and get you".

Oliver took in his surroundings; his forest green shirt was folded neatly on his bedside table. Everything looked the same as it. There was still the same photograph of him and Dinah, framed on the table beside his lamp. It was as though he'd never left.

"What happened?" he asked groggily.

"Well after Dinah dumped you, you drank yourself silly and Clark and I had to practically carry you to bed" she replied in a disapproving tone.

"Oh" he replied thoughtfully.

"By the way Oliver, you were yelling in your sleep that's why the guys sent me to wake you up".

"What?"

"Yeah it's true. You were yelling NO ORION! HARLAN! LO! CHLOE!! Do you know another Chloe apart from me?" she asked curiously.

"No" he replied hastily "it was just a dream" he replied shrugging it off.

"What was the dream about?" she asked.

"I'll explain later. Where are the guys now?" he asked.

"In the living room waiting for you, they didn't want to interrupt the screaming".

"Come on" he replied pulling her along.

"What but Ollie, you might want to put a shirt on at least" she stuttered.

"Don't worry about that now" he replied dragging her into the living room where the guys sat.

"Ollie where are you-?" Victor began but Oliver cut him off.

"Sorry got to go, need to talk to sidekick alone" he dragged Chloe with him oblivious to the bewildered stares of the league members. Then he stopped short of the door and looking at Victor he said "by the way Vic, you and Kat will have kids and boy will your daughter be hot!" Victor stared open mouthed at him. Oliver moved along and opened his front door only to stop in his tracks once again. "Oh and Bart?"

"Yes boss?" came the reply from the Impulse.

"Do yourself a favor and get yourself a girl" Oliver said with a roll of his eyes.

"Uh- yes boss?" Bart replied

"Right then Sidekick we have much to discuss" Oliver was heard telling Chloe even as the door closed. "But most of all, please for goodness sake. I'm begging you! I don't want my child to be named after your cousin!"

"Oliver what the hell are you talking about?" Chloe asked in astonishment.

"And don't say hell Sidekick not unless you want to go there!" Oliver chided as his voice faded down the hallway, leaving behind three very confused members of the justice league.

**Author's note**: Hello my pretties, this is the final chapter, and I am so sorry that it took longer than I intended and I'm warning you that it may not be what you wanted it to be or what you expected. But I did try my best and I'm willing to take requests for stories and I'm more than happy to listen to your ideas and to write a story that you want me to with your plotlines. But sadly I just have the epilogue to go before the end of this story and although I'm sad that I'll have to say goodbye, I think I'm more relieved to get it over and out of my brain. I'll be posting more cookies before the epilogue so look out for that too….take care all and I'll be posting soon! Lots of love, Sheen


	13. Important

This is a general author's post that I will be posting in all my stories…I've recently been introduced to livejournal and I have been thinking about posting my stories up on livejournal because I would like to have everything that I've written in one place, and not scattered all over the place …and I'll also be doing stories that center around my original characters in some of my fics. For example I will do separate stories for Orion, Maya, Harlan and Terry from my Family man fan fiction piece.

I will also be posting up my original works up but for that I need a place. If anyone who is livejournal savy and is educated in its ways please let me know because I desperately need help with working it out. I've been deciding between livejournal and blogspot for a while now so please let me know if you would be interested in reading my stuff if I post them up on either livejournal or blogspot…and please let me know which one you'd prefer cause I can't seen to make the choice… The stories I would be posting would be:

**HARRY POTTER**

-Meeting the son-in-law

-Save the Dragons for goodness sake

**HANA YORI DANGO**

-Suki Yuki

-All I need

**SMALLVILLE**

-The family man

**BOYS BEFORE FLOWERS**

-Yi Jung's family

-Yi Jung's (in)sane family

And as for my original works, I will be posting one that I have been writing for a while now called As the cherry blossoms bloom.

**ORIGINAL WORKS**

**AS THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS BLOOM**

Akira Mimura is a half Japanese, half Eurasian girl. Her father was disowned by his wealthy plutocrat family when he chose to marry Akira's mother, Kendra Williamson, whom he'd met whilst studying in University in Melbourne Australia. Akira's parents in a futile attempt to reconcile with her paternal grandparents, take a trip to Japan. There in Japan, the then five year old Akira befriends a boys she meets in a playground and they vow to meet again, giving each other a little token to remember each other by. Unfortunately fate is such that they don't meet until eighteen years later. But life is complicated for the pair and neither realize that they've met before. Obstacles get in the way for the pair and it's still uncertain if they will fight the barriers keeping them apart or lose their true love forever.

**LOST IN SEOUL**

Sasha Mason has finally done it. She's made the move to Korea to be with her fiancé Matthew James who is a film producer. Throwing caution to the wind, she heads to Korea landing a job as an English teacher. Unfortunately due to unforeseen tragic circumstances Sasha soon finds herself alone in Korea with no home, no job and no knowledge of the Korean language. Just when she thinks that life is hopeless, the last person she expects, come to her aid. Sasha learns that sometimes life deals you with troubles so that when you overcome them you'll understand the true meaning of happiness. Follow Sasha along on a journey of life, love, friendship and self discovery as she attempts to survive in a world that she barely knows.

Well what do you think? I'll also be posting up new stories that I have ideas for. So review this post and let me know if you'd rather I continue on fanfiction and post up my originals on my blog or if you'd rather I post everything on my blog. And which you prefer too, livejournal or .

Thanks guys,

Sheen


	14. EPILOGUE

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING**

**-Some years later-**

Oliver stood at the entrance to St Andrews Cathedral. His parents had gotten married at the very same cathedral. It was tradition that the sons of the Queen family had to get married at St Andrews Cathedral. Oliver's great-great-great grandfather had helped to build the cathedral and so it was important to the Queen family.

Guest after guest strolled in wearing their best, expressing their well wishes and congratulations.

"Hey Ollie, how are you holding up?" Bruce asked as he came to stand in front of Oliver.

"Oh hey Bruce, to be honest I'm as nervous as hell and I don't even know why".

"Well it's only natural to feel this way Ollie" Bruce remarked placing a hand on Oliver's shoulder.

"By the way shouldn't you be getting ready?" Oliver asked his friend.

"Well I may be part of the groomsmen but you've got a main role" Bruce replied "you're the one who needs to get ready".

"I'm as ready as can be" Oliver shot back but he had a funny expression on his face that Bruce couldn't read. "Now where are the other idiots that are meant to be here?"

"Keep your pants on Ollie we're here" Victor announced as he approached the billionaire. Despite his confident tone, Victor looked a little nervous. Behind Victor, Bart and AC were having an animated conversation about AC's choice of wearing a tuxedo made completely out of leaves while Clark looked on wearily.

"I'm telling you fish food, no matter how much you're saving the earth you really look ridiculous" Bart exclaimed. "You're like Tarzan but the stupid version".

"Excuse me short stack, you're destroying the environment while I'm preserving it!" AC replied indignantly.

"Listen here free willy" Bart said looking annoyed. "I'm telling you it's a bad idea to wear a suit made out of seaweed. Remember the last time when you wore that tux made from paper? Think of it this way, if those candles"- he looked around pointedly at the numerous number of candles scattered around the church "accidentally landed on you, you'd be worse than fish and chips.

"I see your point dude but"- AC broke off as Clark shushed them.

"Guys it's almost time, we have to go" Clark said and pushed both Bart and AC from behind.

"Aww what the hell man!" AC exclaimed as his whole outfit fell apart emitting a shriek from a couple of the older guests in the church. "Dude this is the second time! This is the second time that you've done this. The first time was when you ripped a hole in the butt cheek of my tux made from paper and now this?"

"I didn't do anything" Clark replied looking miffed.

"What do you mean you didn't do anything? I'm standing here exposed for the world to see my mini AC, freezing mind you and you claim that you haven't done anything??" AC asked incredulously.

"Although weirdly, it seems as though you're quite comfortable in your nakedness despite at least three hundred people staring at you" Bart replied with a smirk in his friend's direction.

"Well don't just stand there dudes, its getting cold" AC exclaimed, his voice a pitch higher. Clark sighed tiredly.

"Fine, I'll go get you a suit. Just go and wait in the dressing room and I'll be right back" the kryptonian said.

"And who's bright idea was it to wear a tux in our costume colors? Please can someone just tell me who so I can give them a piece of my mind, or shoot them possibly" Bart complained.

"Oh come on 'Gimili from Lord of the Rings', it ain't so bad" AC remarked as he eyed Bart's bright red ensemble.

"Says the man wearing seaweed, and hello? I'm going to scare away the mamacitas. I look like a freaking PIMP!" he exclaimed and those already in the church turned to glare at him. "What?" He asked raising his hands in the air "it true!"

. Oliver laughed as he watched his friends and then made his way to stand at his place before the altar.

"Are you ready for this?" Bruce asked from his position on Ollie's left.

"Yes most definitely" he replied and his gaze was drawn to the back of the church as the Goo Goo doll's Iris began to play from the speakers. The flower girls and bridesmaids walked down the isle first. They were then followed by the maid of honor who looked stunning in a red gown. He felt a funny feeling churning in the pit of his stomach and he tried to think of anything other than the fact that he might throw up right then and there. He averted his gaze, till it landed on Lois who was smiling at him broadly, her emerald green orbs twinkling in delight. _Trust her to be in a good mood. She was always such a sucker for weddings_ he thought to himself. She caught his eye and gave him a happy wink. He grinned in reply and shifted his gaze back on the woman walking down the isle. Her father, Oliver could tell, was obviously distressed at the mere thought of giving away his precious daughter despite his stoic mask.

As she walked closer to him, she caught his eye through her semi see- through veil and winked. "You sure you know what you're getting yourself into?" he whispered as she crossed him.

"Yep" she whispered back, practically glowing although her father glared at him. Having known the man, Oliver felt the glare was due to him 'disrupting' the wedding. He smirked and turned back to the priest feeling a sense of excitement bubbling up inside him.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bind Orion Jonas Queen and Maya Ankara Stone in holy matrimony". Oliver smiled as he watched his son and soon to be daughter-in-law. This was what he'd been waiting for.

* * *

Orion didn't realize he'd been grinning like an idiot till he heard Maya utter her "I do".

"And do you Orion Jonas Queen take Maya Ankara Stone to be your lawful wedded wife. In sickness and in health until death do you part?"

"Hell yes! I mean err…yes, I do. Sorry father" he apologized throwing the priest an apologetic glance. Orion's cheeks tinged pink as he heard the chuckles coming from those seated.

"Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride".

"Finally!" Orion exclaimed and his father scoffed.

Wolf whistles echoed throughout the church as Orion lifted the veil and kissed his bride. Black bangs fell into his face as he gazed lovingly at his new wife, his green eyes sparkling with mischief and sheer joy.

"Well now that this is over" Orion whispered to his wife as they walked down the isle "I can't wait for the honeymoon".

"Orion" she hissed but her smile betrayed her tone. "We haven't even finished the reception yet and you're already thinking about sex".

"Well that's the best part isn't it?" he whispered, shooting a normal smile and glance in the direction of some of their guests. "I mean for Pete's sake Maiz, I'm a man and a man has needs".

"Well just wait a couple more hours_ darling_" Maya said with a cheeky smile then dropping her voice to a low whisper she leaned in closer to him. "I promise I'll make it worth the wait".

"I see _Mrs. Maya Ankara Stone- Queen_ and how do you propose to do that?" Orion asked with a smug expression on his face.

"Well let me tell you _husband dearest_" she drawled slowly. "I happen to know for a fact that my best friend/sister-in-law got me the latest Victoria Secret autumn collection as a wedding present". She walked ahead leaving a gaping Orion hurrying after her.

"Well done Harlan!" Orion muttered to himself "I always knew she was a good sister".

* * *

Despite the air conditioning being on, Lois Queen felt incredibly hot and it was all because of the boy standing next to her. He had always made her feel of some use in this world and she would have followed him to the ends of the earth if he'd only asked. At eighteen years of age, Lois was quite the beauty and the brains. She'd been the president of the student body and this year's Miss Star City High. Much of the school's male population had a fixation with her and if she hadn't been surrounded by so many men, she was sure she could have been on a few dates. Many a time she'd received flowers in her locker. Just recently, someone had been placing a bunch of sunflowers in her locker at the end of every week. She had yet to catch the culprit, whoever it was had always managed to leave before she got to the locker. But she didn't mind the sunflowers so much; they were after all her favourite flowers. She snuck a peek at him. He had cleaned up nicely today. It wasn't that she didn't like his usual attire of jeans and a t-shirt. But the tuxedo on him was very sexy. Very, very sexy. She could just envision him in a James Bond fashion stripping off the tux one layer at a time as he ran on the beach. She let out a sigh, she was good with many things but he was definitely not one of them.

"Nice wedding isn't it?" she asked him trying to make light conversation.

"Yeah" he replied never taking his eyes off the bride and groom that were having their first dance as husband and wife.

"I like weddings" Lois said earnestly "it always makes me happy".

"Yeah" he replied again.

"So how's school going?" She asked trying to coax him away from his monosyllabic one-word answers.

"Great" he replied casually shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

Lois's palms were sweaty and she could feel her breath becoming ragged.

"Come on Lo, what are you waiting for?" Maya's younger sister Naira whispered coming to stand beside her.

"I can't Nai, just look at him" Lois hissed back.

"It's just a dance" Naira replied rolling her eyes. "Come on, stop being a baby and ask him already".

"Yeah come on sis, have some guts" Lois's brother Carl remarked as he joined the girls.

Naira laughed and shook her head. "Jeez CQ stop pressuring your sister".

"As if you weren't doing the same thing loser" he shot back with a friendly wink.

"Well moron we are best friends after all and I guess we've sort of rubbed off onto each other" she explained.

"That could be a possibility" he replied with a smile and they high fived each other.

Lois rolled her eyes "hellooo back to me guys?"

"Sorry I tend to forget things when I'm around CQ" Naira replied sheepishly.

"I do tend to have that effect on people don't I sexyness?" Carl replied casually draping his arm around Naira. "Just admit it baby, you want me. Oh yeah you want me bad".

"Piss off!" Naira exclaimed shrugging off his hand. "Can you please focus on the matter at hand? Your sister needs our help".

"Meh, I've got a solution" Carl remarked thoughtfully "just put on a pair of Victoria's secret and show it to him? Oh wait I forgot, it's Asher. So forget the earlier plan, just dress up as a mermaid."

"You're so weird" Naira groaned smacking a hand to her forehead. "Its really simple just go up to him and ask him to dance".

"But I can't!" Lois protested. "I've never done this sort of thing before".

"Oh come on, you can dissect a frog in biology and eat lunch right after that without puking; don't tell me you can't ask a boy to dance?" Carl asked looking incredulously at his sister.

"Oh my god, what a disgrace" Naira remarked looking shocked.

"I know right?" Carl shot back, "sometimes I wonder if she's really not adopted".

"Ok fine! I'll do it, if it'll get you two goons to shut up!" Lois exclaimed and the pair of best friends grinned at each other. Wiping her sweaty palms on the back of her dress, Lois made her way steadily towards Asher. The said boy was currently bobbing his head to the now faster beat rhythm. "Asher" she called but he didn't hear her, the music was too loud. "ASHER!" she yelled and he looked at her.

"YEAH LOIS?" he yelled back over the thundering bass.

"DO YOU WANT TO DANCE?" she shouted.

"WHAT?"

"I SAID DO YOU WANT TO DANCE WITH ME?"

"I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK" Asher replied and the breath that Lois let out a breath that she didn't know she'd been holding for so long. He grabbed her hand and steered her towards the dance floor.

"Mission accomplished" Naira exclaimed and Carl grinned.

"So Nai, now that we've got that out of the way how about a-" Carl broke off as another voice interrupted him.

"Hey Naira"

"Oh hey Max!" Naira exclaimed cheerfully as Max Wayne came to stand beside the pair.

"Hey Naira, I was just wondering, how about a dance?" he asked and Carl stared at the second Wayne child dumbstruck.

"Yeah sure" she replied brightly and was soon whisked away.

"Stupid bat boy" Carl muttered darkly to himself sometime later as he sat at a table by the dance floor, watching Naira and Max. "Stupid, stupid, stupid bat boy" he muttered again, taking a swig of champagne.

"Trouble in paradise?" a voice cut in beside him and he turned around to see his sister in law. "Oh hey Maya" he greeted glumly.

"Oh come now CQ is that any way to talk to your sister in law? Where is your spirit and fire?" she asked.

"Oh leave me alone. I'm not in the mood".

"You have to be quick when it comes to my sister" Maya advised "surprise her and sweep her off her feet with what she least expects!"

"And how do I do that?" Carl shot back.

"Easy" another voice interrupted.

"O?"

"You have to be manly and if possible, sexy!" Orion replied.

"Ppfffftttt sexy?" Carl exclaimed "easy for you to say! I'm amazing, cool, smart, funny, awesome, dashing but sexy??"

"Well she likes roses and thinks flamenco dancers are sexy" Maya hinted with a smile before she and her new husband headed off to talk to other guests.

Carl grabbed the red rose from the vase on the table and with a resigned sigh, he walked over to the DJ. A few minutes of negotiation and a twenty dollar bribe later, he made his way to the dance floor. After stealing a scarf from Harlan who was busy boogieing with Terry, he tied it around his waist and walked over to Naira with the rose in between his teeth. He clapped his hands twice and the lights blacked out leaving behind a spotlight on him and Naira.

"For you" he said in his best Spanish accent, handing Naira the rose. She raised her eyebrows so high that they disappeared into her hairline. "Senorita, would you give me the honor of this dance?" he asked her and she burst into gales of laughter.

"I guess so" she replied "since you went through all this trouble." He smiled at her and she laughed, taking the hand offered to her. "You really are the weirdest guy I've ever met CQ. But life wouldn't be fun without you."

* * *

Oliver was used to making speeches. He'd after all, done them numerous times for work but this one was different. This speech was about his son and his daughter in law. He glanced over at his wife who was smiling in encouragement. Clearing his throat, he raised his glass to his lips to take a long drink.

"Many of you that personally know Maya and Orion would agree with me when I say that the two of them are MADE for each other; only because both of them are the most stubborn individuals on the planet". A few people chuckled heartily, while most of the league guffawed.

"Hear, hear!" Chloe called shooting her husband with a smile.

"Now many of you must be wondering how on earth both of them got together, well I'll tell you. As you all know, these two have been dancing around their feelings for each other. I mean, they were both just too thick to realize their love for each other that I'm sure even if you clubbed them on the head they wouldn't have known".

"Hey!" Orion protested in mock outrage.

"When these two were kids, they used to fight so much. Initially it was cute but then when they grew up it got to the point where everyone was like 'just get a room already'. But I think the real turning point was when Maya was given a scholarship to Gotham University. She would have had to leave her life in Star city behind. So that meant leaving her family, friends, her lovely uncles *cough* cough* and most of all Orion".

"Oi!" Bart exclaimed "we're the best uncles ever!" He stood up making a show of being insulted before Victor pulled him down.

"*Cough* sure you are Bart" Oliver remarked. "Now where was I? Oh yes, so Maya left for Gotham, leaving a very angst filled Orion. I can't tell you how many plates and glasses and other fragile objects he'd broken in rage. It wasn't until one week later when Harlan had come back from a short visit to Maya in Gotham city that Orion decided to take action. See, Harlan had mentioned to her brother that Maya was staying with Bruce and that Bruce had a son who was just a little older than Maya. All Harlan had to do was mention that Terry was a young good looking man and Orion decided to make his move. That very day, he "commandeered" Queen Industries Private Jet and left for Gotham city. It was only later that I heard the story from Bruce about Orion barging his way into Maya's University, evading security and calling for Maya with a bullhorn and banging a set of pots and pans together. As you might expect things didn't start off well with Maya demanding to know why he was there and lecturing him for causing a ruckus-ending in a "steamy make out session".

"Aww dad, come on" Orion called out as his cheeks tinged crimson. Maya buried her face in her hands in embarrassment.

"Anyway, what I mean to say is that love is a beautiful thing. Sometimes its love at first sight, sometimes you have to look for love and often its right in front of you but you don't realize it. With Maya and Orion, there couldn't have been a better pair. These two have been in love long before they realized it. I am proud to officially welcome into my family Maya Ankara Stone- now Queen and I am happy for the two of you. So to the newly weds, my son Orion Jonas Queen and my new daughter-in-law Maya. May you two always be happy and may you live together for many, many years to come". He raised his champagne flute in the direction of his son and daughter-in-law and the guests followed suit. "OH! And I almost forgot, may the two of you provide both me and Chloe with many, many-MANY grandchildren".

"And me and Kat too!!" Victor chimed in while his wife nodded her head in agreement.

"Oh god" Maya groaned as she hid her face into her husband's side.

Orion wrapped an arm around Maya's shoulder "don't worry baby, we'll be trying to make those grandchildren without actually making them" he whispered in comfort.

"Oh dear sweet god" Maya groaned again and Harlan sniggered uncontrollably clutching Terry for support.

"And now that I've thoroughly humiliated my son and daughter in law, its time for the speeches from the couple themselves. First off we have my beautiful daughter in law Maya to say a few words" Oliver announced.

Maya left her husband's side, her cheeks tinged pink from embarrassment and walked up to Oliver. Orion followed her standing beside her, patiently awaiting his turn to speak.

"Here you go darling" he said warmly, handing her the microphone.

After hugging him and giving him a kiss on the cheek she turned back to face the audience. "I know Orion's probably going to say this as well but I'd just like to thank everyone for coming here today to share this occasion with us. I'd also like to thank my parents and Orion's parents for always supporting us and for realizing that we were meant to be together way before we did. I'd also like to thank my dear younger sister Naira. Thank you for always being a bundle of joy around me and for your infectious happiness and for the best hen's night ever. I'd also like to thank my best friends Terry Wayne for his continuous support and guidance in my life and Harlan Queen for always knowing when I need a good cheering up. Without you guys, I'd be lost. Thank you to my sister in law Lois Queen for helping out with the wedding preparations and for you continuous faith in me. And thank you to my uncles, Bruce Wayne, Bart Allen, Arthur Curry and Clark Kent. Because without you guys our family will not be complete. And last but not least, thank you to my wonderful husband Orion Jonas Queen". Upon mentioning her husband's name she turned towards him, speaking directly to him. "You have shown me what's it's like to love and to be loved and for that I am grateful. You supported me wholeheartedly when I went to medical school and waited till I finished. Even when it was hard not seeing each other for long periods of time; you were still supportive and optimistic. You wanted me to achieve my goals and dreams at the expense of your feelings and for that I-" She broke off wiping the stray tears that fell from her eyes. "For that I will love you and cherish you for the rest of my life. You mean the world to me Orion Queen and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you".

Orion enveloped her into a bone crushing embrace stroking her hair tenderly as more tears fell from her eyes. "Shhhh its ok baby" he soothed comfortingly.

"Sorry" she choked with a laugh "I'm being such a baby".

"And now that my wife Mrs. Maya Queen has said her piece, its time for me to say my thanks". Orion didn't release his hold from his wife instead, carrying on. "I believe that my wife has thanked all the people that I've wanted to thank too so I'll just wrap it up a little. I'd like to thank my parents Oliver and Chloe, without them, I would not be living this wonderful life of mine. I'd also like to thank my in laws Victor and Katherine Stone, for giving me their precious eldest daughter to marry. Next I'd like to thank my sister Harlan because if it wasn't for her, I would never realize how much I loved Maya. I'd also like to thank my younger sister Lois because she was the chief mastermind in matchmaking us when we were younger. And lastly I'd like to thank my younger brother Carl and my brother from another mother Terry for arranging my stag night and finally last but not least thank you all once again for coming. My wife and I greatly appreciate it and we hope that you have a good time. But now before you all head on down to the dance floor for more party time, I believe my good friend Terry has something that he wants to say" Orion added handing the microphone to Terry.

"Well as many of you know I've been dating Harlan Queen for a while now and I can't think of a better place than in front of all our friends and family to ask her this question" Terry got down on one knee and took out a black velvet box from his pocket. Harlan who was a few feet away from him, let out a loud "OH MY GOD".

"Harlan, I love you and have loved you for a long time now. You've been with me through all the ups and downs in my live and there's no other person that I'd rather have beside me for the rest of my life than you. Would you do me the honour of being my wife, till the end of our days?"

"TERRY YOU DICK!" Harlan exclaimed and bursting into tears, she flung herself at Terry and knocked him to the ground. "OF COURSE I WILL" she exclaimed in between sobs. Terry barely had any time to put the ring on her finger as she began to smother him with kisses.

* * *

"Doesn't this just make you want to be young again?" Chloe asked wrapping her arms around her husband's waist.

"Yes it does, but if we were young again then the kids wouldn't be around" Oliver replied placing his hands over hers.

"I guess you're right" she replied. "I can't believe they're all grown up, it seems like just yesterday that Orion and Maya were bickering children and now they're married".

"I know" Oliver chuckled. "Those were the days huh? First it was just the two of us and then suddenly all of them came. Life's going by too quickly".

"But I wouldn't have it any other way" Chloe replied. "I know when the time comes for us to retire from our super human business, the league will be in good hands" she said looking at the dance floor where the next generation of the league was horsing around.

"Very soon it'll just be you and me" Oliver replied with a smile.

"Think of all the places that we've wanted to travel to? We could go to visit the Taj Mahal in India, visit the great wall of China, see the grand canyon and the safaris of Africa! I'm excited just thinking about it" Chloe sighed dreamily.

"And we can go into our honeymoon phase again. Just wait till the kids are settled and then we can be off on our grand adventure".

"I mean now that Orion's married and Harlan is going to get married, we just have Lois and Carl left. I'm sure in no time they'll settle down too".

"Did you know that Victor and Kat are leaving tomorrow morning itself? They're going on the Caribbean cruise followed by the Alaskan cruise! And they won't be back for a good year or so."

"Jeez! They're quicker than us eh?"

"Yeah"-

Oliver broke off as a Maya bolted from the dance floor only to throw up into a potted plant. Orion rushed after her to rub her back gently. Harlan, Lois, Carl and the rest of the family followed looking worried. Orion exchanged a whispered conversation with his wife as the others looked on worriedly.

"Maya!" Chloe exclaimed in shock, running over to her daughter in law. "Are you alright?"

"Err…yeah" she replied, her cheeks tinged pink. "Just that I think we're going to have to add a new room in the house".

"And err…mum and dad you might want to put your travelling plans on hold" Orion added, his cheeks equally pink.

Both sets of parents stared blinking at their children. "And why is that?" Victor asked curiously.

"Because we're going to be parents" Maya replied and there was a loud thud as Victor fell to the floor in faint.

"I knew that was going to happen" Kat replied with a sigh and Oliver burst out laughing.

"Life is exciting isn't it?" Chloe asked him beaming with happiness.

"It sure is Chlo, it sure is" he replied with a smile as he watched his family before him.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** So it ends! I'd lost a lot of motivation towards the end but I wanted to complete it for you guys. I just want to thank everyone that has been with me from the beginning, reading and reviewing and for those who have continued to support me even when i was being a jerk and not writing:) Thank you all from the bottom of my heart! I'm sad that it's the end and that I have to say goodbye to the characters that gave me comfort these couple of years but I'll be writing more in the future. If you have any requests I'll be more than happy to do them! Cheers guys! All the best for the new year!


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